”Lifelong Learning” with Andy Olson

Andy was born in Provo, UT but grew up mostly in Spokane, WA, where his dad was a pediatrician. He is the oldest of 8 children (the 8 children were born in 10 years, 3 while his dad was going through medical school… his mom is a saint!). When he was young, his parents got sick of their children watching too much TV so one day the TV “broke” and instruments appeared. They started a family band (Andy chose the guitar), playing bluegrass music, performing around outdoor gatherings, granges, nursing homes and shopping malls. He even attended a performance on prom night, bringing his date along. He loved playing wide receiver on his HS football team and he loved his HS Biology class, where his teacher brought the subject of molecular biology to life, inspiring his future career. After a year of college at BYU, he went on an LDS mission to the Iowa, Des Moines Mission. We met the summer after his return and married a year later in SLC, UT. He got his MBA and has worked for various startup companies in the BioTech industry, in TX, CA, WA, MO and UT. Four years ago, he took the leap of starting his own company, where he uses DNA and epigenetics to help solve fertility issues, specifically male infertility.  He loves reading, listening to live music with his brother and concerts with his kids, water skiing, snow skiing, road cycling, watching cycling and eating good food, especially anything chocolate. When we travel, he’s a major foodie, always scouting out the best places to eat. (We can always charm him out of a bad mood by going to get good food.) He’s a master sourdough bread maker and has 2 mean DuoLingo streaks - one in Italian and one in Spanish. We have 4 children, 3 girls and 1 boy, ages 25-17 yrs old and have been married for 26 years. When he dies, we’re going to bury him with his bike. What a ride it's been!