Olson first ran for a seat to the
House of Commons of Canada in the
Crowfoot electoral district in the
2000 Canadian federal election under the federal
Progressive Conservative banner. He was defeated by
Kevin Sorenson in a landslide that also saw incumbent
Jack Ramsay get defeated. Olson ran for seat to the Alberta Legislature in the
2008 provincial election and was elected to represent the
electoral district of
Wetaskiwin-Camrose in the
Legislative Assembly of Alberta. He is a member of the provincial
Progressive Conservatives. Olson succeeded Alison Redford as Alberta's Minister of Justice and Attorney General on February 18, 2011. He was appointed Minister of Agriculture for Alberta on May 8, 2012. He was appointed acting Minister of Justice and Attorney General on April 25, 2015, in the middle of the election campaign, upon the sudden resignation of
Jonathan Denis. He was defeated in the
2015 Alberta general election by NDP candidate
Bruce Hinkley. ==Private life==