Former Spartan state champion passes away at 92

By Nicholas Zeller-Singh Bainbridge Island Review • October 13, 2022 1:30 am

A key member of the 1947-48 Bainbridge High School state championship basketball team died Oct. 3 at the age of 92.

Bob Olsen, a 6-foot-3 center, loved playing for the Spartans. “It was something he was very proud of,” said his son, Ron. “He never talked about himself but about his teammates and coach Tom Paski.”

Olsen was the vocal captain of the squad. In his senior year, Paski became coach. Paski expected Olsen and his teammates to play football because the high school only had about 60 students. But Olsen led his teammates to the golf course to find Paski and tell him they were not playing football because they wanted to win a basketball championship.

Olsen was named to the 1948 State All-Star squad after scoring 15 points with 11 rebounds in the State B title game over Kalama. As a result of their accomplishment, that Bainbridge team was inducted into the Kitsap Sports Hall of Fame in 2019. “It was a cool honor for these guys. They had 12 players and nine were still alive and turning 90,” Ron said.

Olsen rarely missed Bainbridge football and basketball games, even up until the end. “If there was a high school game in Seattle or Port Angeles, we were there no matter what time of the week,” Ron said. “He went to basketball games his whole life. Ever since he got out of high school, he rarely missed a game.”

Off the court, he took over his father’s business, Hockett and Olsen, where he would help support anyone in the community. “I had about three people tell me when my dad was back in high school, their parents were struggling financially and had to get their car fixed,” Ron said. “My dad would say, ‘It’s on me,’ and I never knew he did that.”

Olsen, one of the founders of the booster club, was especially proud of his grandson Henry.

“I look at all these pictures where he had Henry on the golf course when he was about four years old,” Ron said. “If he felt ok and it wasn’t raining, he was at all of Henry’s games. He had to get out and get his walker and walk 100 yards with about four pit stops, but he would get to his seat behind home plate. Last year, we used a wheelchair but he still went to tournaments.”