Richard "Wayne" Olson, the son of Cecil and Dorane (Severson) Olson, was born on August 16, 1946 in Drayton, ND.  He had two sisters, Sharon and Patty.  Wayne graduated from Bottineau High School in 1965.  After graduation he met Joyce Rethemeier and after a brief courtship, they eloped and were married in Pipestone, MN on April 4, 1965.  They had two children, Laurie and Tim.  They lived in Grand Forks and Thompson where Wayne worked for UPS.  In the mid 1970's, they moved to Bottineau where Wayne worked at Coast to Coast doing small engine repair.  He also had a chain saw repair shop for a time.  A few years later, they moved to Souris.  In the early 1980's, Wayne started working for the Bottineau Co-p Creamery.  It was there that he met his life long friend, Jeff Beyer.  He worked at the creamery for 40 years.  During that he time he also did many odd jobs including laying carpet.

After retiring from the creamery, he became a caretaker for his wife, Joyce.  She passed away unexpectedly in 2013 after 47 years of marriage.  Wayne also worked as the maintenance man at the Mountain View Homes in Bottineau.  He was always on call and never hesitated to drop everything when a resident needed something repaired.  He worked until his memory didn't allow him to. Wayne was such a good man. He was kind and never said no to a friend.

Once he met you, you were considered his friend. He helped everyone he could and always had time to visit. He never had a bad word to say about anyone. Most of you will remember the smile and that came easy to his face, and the laughter that came with it. Wayne was a good friend. Wayne could fix anything. He could take junk and make something out of it. He never threw anything away, he always said "I might need that someday". Wayne loved to fish and golf in his spare time.

After struggling with Alzheimer's/ Dementia for a number of years, Wayne made his final move to Edmond Oklahoma in 2020, where he lived with his son Tim and his family. While there he loved to ride his bicycle and go for multiple walks a day. He met many new "friends" there.

Wayne was preceded in death by his wife Joyce Olson; parents, Dorane and Cecil Olson; niece, Monica; mother and father-in-law, George and Mabel Rethemeier and brothers-in-law, Arnold and Ernest Rethemeier.

Wayne is survived by his children, Laurie (Marc) Steinhaus of Bottineau and Tim (Jennifer) Olson of Edmond, OK; grandchildren, Cody (Olivia) Steinhaus of Mandan, Hosea Wright of OK, Anthony (Allie) Olson of OK and Lacey Olson of OK; sisters. Sharon (Dick) Rime of Garrison and Patty (Al) Flores of Grand Prairie, TX; several great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

A Private burial will be held at a later date.