Born 1957 Illinois. Grew up in Crystal Lake Illinois. Attended University of Montana, Missoula and Northland College, Wisconsin. B.A. Humanities / Northern Studies. Pilot since 1982. Outward Bound Instructor 1979 - 1985. Immigrated to Canada 1987, Canadian Citizenship 1991. Married to Kristen Gilbertson Olesen, since 1989. Two daughters. Professional dog musher since 1979. Iditarod race finisher 1986-1996. Yukon Quest finisher 1998 and 2000. I continue to run dogteam expeditions with university and tourist groups. Since 1987 my family and I have lived year-round at the mouth of the Hoarfrost River on McLeod Bay of Great Slave Lake, 165 miles northeast of Yellowknife. Our home was destroyed by wildfire in 2014 and we moved into "home, version 2.0" five years later. I work as a bush pilot, dog musher, and writer. I write, read, hunt, fish, walk, sit, think, do chores and explore this vast home territory.
