Interviews and Profiles

"The Art of the Hand-Made Guitar"

For their first article in an ongoing series profiling outstanding luthiers, Fingerstyle Guitar magazine chose to introduce readers to Jim Olson and Michael Millard of Froggy Bottom Guitars. We have reproduced the part of the article focusing on Jim here. Author John Schroeter briefly touches on how Jim got started building guitars, and then focuses on the distinguishing characteristics of Jim's approach to guitar making.

"The Pick of the Pickers"

The November 10, 2001 issue of the St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper featured a two-page article on Olson Guitars, beginning as the cover story of the "Express" section and illustrated with six photos (four in color). The text of the article is available at the Pioneer Press web site at the link above.

"No Secrets, No Edens: In The Shop With Jim Olson, Olson Guitars"

Written for Kamikaze, a Minnesota arts newsletter, this article focuses on the history of Olson Guitars and on the motivation for Jim's commitment to excellence in his craft.

"Frets Visits... St. Paul, MN: Olson Guitars"

This article, from the now-defunct (and much missed) magazine, Frets, was written in 1982, just five years after Jim started building guitars full time. As is evident from the text and photos, Jim was already creating custom tooling—but he sure has come a long way since those days when he owned just a single router!

"Modern Luthier"

Guitarist Will Ackerman hosts this video featuring interviews with luthiers at four prominent small shops (including Jim); it also includes performances on instruments from all four builders by prominent fingerstyle guitarists. This page will tell you a bit more about the video and direct you to the Modern Luthier web page.