Dr. Paul K. Olson

Dr. Paul Kenneth Olson, geneticist, biochemist, immunologist, co-founder of multiple companies with an emphasis in life science, age 51, of University City, Missouri, formerly of River Falls, Wisconsin, passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday, September 19th, at his residence. Paul was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota on January 22, 1967, a son of Kenneth Olson and the late LaDonna (Lewis) Olson. Graduate of University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, PhD, Molecular Genetics, The University of Wisconsin-Madison, BS Bacteriology, and the Marine Military Academy. Paul was an integral part of NUCLEUS (Louisville, KY) and subsequently, CORTEX (St. Louis, MO) research and innovation communities, where he impacted the lives of so many scientists and entrepreneurs, in addition to the many other academic and professional colleagues at universities and research institutions around the world. Service to others, through both selfless personal devotion to his friends, family and even total strangers, and passionate pursuit of advancement in research to help treat and cure human disease, was the rent he paid for his existence. His entrepreneurial spirit was pivotal in the founding of multiple companies to promulgate the research and development of new discoveries to help mankind and improve human health. Together with his many friends and colleagues, Paul pioneered advancements in drug discovery, gene therapy, vaccine development and diagnostics, impacting a diverse number of medical fields and disease indications. Potentia Pharmaceuticals, Apellis, Kypha, Common Place Holdings, OpenCell Technologies, and Serion were among the companies he helped establish or lead. Paul’s many sacrifices and discoveries will not end in death, because of the continuation of fellow entrepreneurs and researchers such as Chad Stiening, Pascal Deschatelets, Cedric Francois, Zhouning Zhang, Elizabeth Schramm, Paul Olivo, Delphine El Mehdi, Steve Wagner, John Talley, and Ming Zhou Zhou, who continue on his and their paths of discovery. Paul’s work to cure devastating ocular diseases like age-related macular degeneration has now progressed to late-stage clinical testing as a promising treatment that could help hundreds of thousands of people in a few years. He is survived by his Father: Kenneth Olson, of Iola; friends: Mitch, Dave, Chad, Pascal, Cedric, Whayne, Vernon, Steve, Charlie, and all other deep friends, limited in space to mention, and Humanity whose betterment, he dedicated his life to.   He was preceded in death by his Mother: LaDonna (Lewis) Olson.A formal appreciation and expression of gratitude to God for Paul will be held at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Iola on Saturday, October 6, 2018 at 11:00 AM.  The Reverend Mary Bope will officiate.  Visitation with the family will be held at the church on Saturday October 6th from 9:30-11:00 AM.  Interment of cremains will be in the Greenwood Cemetery in River Falls, Wisconsin.