Ray Olsen, Ex-Legislator, Fair Figure, Dies At 87

One of the giants of Seattle's 1962 World's Fair has died.

Former State Rep. Ray L. Olsen, who introduced all the major legislation for the Century 21 Exposition, died Friday in a local hospital after a long illness. He was 87.

Mr. Olsen, a Baker, Ore., native who moved to Seattle 52 years ago, represented the city's 35th District in the Legislature for 16 years and served on the World's Fair Commission from its inception in 1955 until it was abolished in 1963.

When the fair ended, Mr. Olsen was named Washington state's official representative to the New York World's Fair.

Although Olsen was a Democrat, his soft-spoken manner and ability to work with both parties was one of the reasons then-House Speaker John O'Brien chose him in 1955 to be one of seven members on the original World's Fair Commission.

The commission was given the job of determining whether an exposition should be held to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the state's Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909.

Although the commission was started under Gov. Arthur Langlie, a new governor - Albert. Rosellini - had just taken office when the commission finished its report, which recommended that a fair be held and that the commission be expanded to 15 members.

GOVERNOR PERSUADED

It fell to Mr. Olsen, the late Edward Carlson and House Speaker O'Brien to convince the new governor that he should come out in favor of the fair in his inaugural address.

A few months ago, Mr. Olsen recalled that "although Rosellini liked the idea of a fair, he didn't know where the money was going to come from.

He also wasn't anxious to be branded a spendthrift so soon after taking office.

"We asked him to at least make a favorable mention of the fair in his address. He agreed to do so, but cautiously omitted any mention of dollars."

Later, the governor asked Olsen and Carlson how much money they thought the state should provide.

Mr. Olsen recalled: "I said, `Governor, the people of the City of Seattle have voted a $7.5 million bond issue for a civic center. I don't think the state should do any less.' "

Finding a source for that much money proved rather easy, thanks to one of this state's most famous and enduring politicians, the late Vic Meyers - longtime lieutenant governor and secretary of state.

According to Olsen, Meyers, who had just been elected secretary of state, came up with the solution.

He told the governor he'd just discovered that the state's corporation taxes hadn't been raised since Washington became a state in 1889, and the taxes were far behind those of other states. `Double the corporation tax,' Vic said, `and you'll have plenty of money.' And that's what happened."

As the designated point man for the fair in the Legislature, Mr. Olsen submitted two world's fair bills during the 1957 session. One called for a $7.5 million bond issue, guaranteed by corporation fees, as the state's share of a world's fair. The second would expand the World's Fair Commission to 15 members.

Mr. Olsen was a highly visible figure at the fair. He frequently represented the state at Plaza of the States ceremonies, and he was assigned to escort Adlai Stevenson, then-U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, around the fairgrounds.

"It was," he said later, "one of my biggest thrills."

Mr. Olsen's wife, Ellen, to whom he was married for almost 49 years, wrote a tongue-in-cheek poem ("Ray at the Fair") about her husband's glory days at the Fair: "These are my People, and this is My Fair. Deny me. Dispute me. You wouldn't dare.

"I am the King of this land, and this hat is my crown. I am Cock of the Walk, of this Fair and this Town!" Mr. Olsen, who was noted for his modesty, howled with laughter at his wife's prank.

Douglas Warne, a retired Kent schoolteacher who grew up calling Olsen "Uncle Ray," said Mr. Olsen widened his horizons.

"I grew up in Ballard, and Ray - because of his work on the Fair and his work in the Legislature - seemed to know everybody who was anybody in Seattle and all over the state. He talked about these important political things, and he got me a job as a page in the Legislature."

Warne credited Mr. Olsen with two attributes which often seemed diametrically opposed. He was "very quiet" on the one hand, but was "very tenacious" on the other.

"In his quiet way, he just got things done," said Warne. "Maybe that's why he was such a success with the world's fair."

Thomas Alberg, a longtime friend of Mr. Olsen's, said upon learning of his friend's passing, "Ray was never a loud person like most politicians, but that didn't mean he didn't get things done."

Alberg first knew Mr. Olsen when the latter owned and operated a men's clothing store in Bremerton. "He was really a dedicated Democrat, Ray was," said Alberg, "and when his candidate for governor (Sen. Homer T. Bone) was defeated by Arthur B. Langlie in 1940, why Ray just upped and moved from Bremerton to find a bigger arena in which to work."

OWNED CLOTHING STORES

Mr. Olsen, a dapper dresser, owned and operated men's clothing stores for 15 years. As he became more active in politics, he went on to hold a variety of government and public-service jobs, including assistant district supervisor for the 1940 and 1950 Federal Census, assistant director of the Community Chest, and assistant director of the state Department of Transportation.

From 1950 to 1959, he was public-relations director for the Washington state Restaurant Association and editor of the association's monthly trade magazine, Allied Food & Beverage.

While working for the Restaurant Association, Mr. Olsen ran for the Legislature, won his race and entered the House. He was budget director for the King County Commissioners, District 2, from 1959 to 1969.

After leaving the Legislature in 1967, he served for two years as a legislative aide to the King County Council and then was elected to a two-year term as sergeant-at-arms for the House of Representative.

Mr. Olsen served on the State Advisory Council on Alcoholism and was the recipient of numerous awards for his work in the field.

Mr. Olsen was a longtime member of the Washington Athletic Club and Seattle Elks Lodge No. 92. He was an associate of the Pacific Science Center Foundation.

He resided at Horizon House with his wife, Ellen. He also is survived by a granddaugter, Valerie Haavig, and by three great grandsons, Kenneth, Michael and Christoper Haavig.

There will be no funeral or memorial service. Remembrances may be sent to Horizon House Associates Fund or to a favorite charity.