Digital Man: The Story of Ken Olsen
Curated by Sarah Larlee St.Germain
As an inventor, scientist, and entrepreneur, Ken Olsen is one of the true pioneers of the computing industry.
Bill Gates
Kenneth “Ken” Harry Olsen (1926-2011) was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1926. While fixing radios in his basement during his early years, he gained a reputation as a “neighborhood Edison.” After graduating from high school, Olsen enlisted in the Navy in 1944 and served until 1946 as a radio technician. In 1950, he graduated from MIT with a B.S. in electrical engineering and then received an M.S. in electrical engineering, again from MIT, in 1952.
After graduating with his B.S., Olsen headed to Finland in pursuit of love. He married Eeva-Liisa Aulikki Valve, whom he’d met previously, on December 12, 1952 in Lahti, Finland. Together they welcomed three children, daughter Ava and sons Glenn and James.
On top of his involvement in the tech world, Olsen was devoted to his faith, serving as a deacon and as the director of religious education in the 1950s and 1960s at Park Street Church. He was also a philanthropist and outdoorsman. The Olsen we know was shaped by his experiences, hobbies, and attitudes outside of the tech world. In this exhibit you will get acquainted with Ken Olsen the man, Ken Olsen the tech guru, and learn how his legacy has played out at Gordon and in the world.
A group photo, taken July 26, 1944, of Co 1498 – C.H. Metcalf – SP.(A)2/c CO. COMD’R at the U.S. Naval Training Center in Great Lakes, Illinois. Olsen is pictured in the back row, seventh from the left.
An undated photo of Olsen (middle) with friends. Based on the uniforms, this was probably taken while he was in the Navy.
Olsen served in the Navy from 1944-1946 as a radio technician. This hat belonged to Olsen while he served in the Navy.
Olsen’s Notice of Classification card. The only date listed is from June 19, 1946, presumably when he left the Navy. The Notice of Classification card was a part of the draft process. The Class number of 1-C meant that Olsen was a “Member of the Armed Forces of the United States, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, or the Public Health Service.” The DISC meant that he was honorably discharged from military service.
Newsclipping of an engagement announcement made by the Rev. and Mrs. Kauko Valve of their daughter Aulikki to Ken Olsen in 1950.
Photo of Olsen and his wife, Eeva-Liisa Aulikki Valve, at their wedding on December 12, 1952. The wedding was held in Lahti, Finland where Valve lived. Valve’s father, who was a pastor, married them. Eeva-Liisa went mainly by the name Aulikki.
Apart from his computer pioneering and his career as a Navy radio engineer, Olsen was also a pilot. This is a sample page from his October 1969 – July 1972 flight log. There are three other logs held in the collection. Occasionally, Olsen would take part in local search and rescues and note it in his log books.
He is infinitely Digital. His story and the story of his company cannot be separated.
Glenn Rifkin & George Harrar
After working at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, which worked on designing and building computers for air defense application, Olsen and colleague Harlan Anderson founded Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) with only $70,000 in capital in 1957. DEC found its home in an old mill building in Maynard, MA, but soon had employees in 97 countries. By 1988, DEC became an $11 billion company, the second largest computer company just behind IBM, the 38th largest industrial company in the Fortune 500 and the 13th most profitable.
With patents for saturable switches, diode transformer gate circuits, line printer buffers, and an improvised version of magnetic core memory, Olsen led the revolution of the mini-computer with machines like the PDP-8, PDP-11, VAX, and VT100. After having served as president and CEO of DEC for 35 years, he resigned in 1992.
Upon resigning from DEC, Olsen could not stay away from the tech world and founded Advanced Modular Solutions, Inc. in 1995. He served as the company chair until it ceased operations in 1999.
Employee ID badge belonging to Ken Olsen. As he was the CEO and founder, he was considered the first employee thus making him employee number 1, as seen on his badge.
DEC quickly became an international company with offices in France, Sweden, Norway, China, Turkey, and more! This pin includes an American flag next to a Dutch flag and has the Digital logo on it.
Magnetic core memory was the predominant form of random-access computer memory from about 1955 – 1975. Each little "donut" (iron ferrite torus or ring) is called a "core" and stores one bit (0 or 1). The bit is stored as a direction of magnetization (that is, magnetized one direction means 0, and the other direction means 1). The wires running through the cores are used to select which ones to access, and to either read or write their contents. Olsen holds a patent for magnetic core memory.
This round, silicon wafer was most likely used to help test and understand circuit design and manufacturing for the process that made the wafer. It was built and then used to measure how the wafer worked. Information garnered from testing it would then be used to improve both the design and manufacturing subsequent "real" (useful in products) chips with the same wafer (chip) fabrication process.
A circuit board, which appears to be a memory board, with integrated circuit memory chips (the array of black chips). There are also interface chips (gold, near the connector edges on the bottom) and various other control and support chips around the edges, plus lots of resistors and capacitors to help it all work electronically.
The PDP-8 was the first commercially successful minicomputer, triggering the minicomputer industry, and cost only $18,000. At the time, it was a bargain! It ended up selling 50,000 units and launched DEC into the big leagues.
Front panel from the PDP 8/1 machine.
Introduced in 1970, the PDP-11 sold for $10,800. This machine and its succession of follow-up models sold 250,000 units.
A VT100 terminal from the Olsen Collection. Typically, the keyboard would rest under the lip of the terminal, but this case isn’t wide enough for them to fit that way, so the keyboard is located on top of the terminal. The elegant styling and design drove it to become an industry standard and it was soon followed by VT200 and VT300 terminals.
The DECpc 333 Portable computer, manufactured by DEC from 1991-2004, came complete with Microsoft Windows and an integrated mousepad. It also was able to be placed into a framework that turned it from a portable computer to a network computer. The DECpc 333 boasted a luxurious 4 MB of memory and a 60 MB hard drive as well as a 33 MHz 386 processor with cache memory. It only weighed 11 pounds and the battery lasted for 3 hours!
VAX (Virtual Address Extension) debuted in 1977 and was a breakthrough architecture that allowed DEC to create a family of computers that could grow expansively into the 1990s.
A group of unidentified students use the PDP-12 in Gordon College's Computer Room in 1970.
Mr. Snyder and Dave Cossey (right) work on a PDP-12 at Barrington in 1970.
Dr. Marion Bean with students working around a PDP-12 in Barrington's Computer Lab in 1976.
An unidentified student using the PDP-12, which was developed by DEC in 1969, in Barrington College's Computer Lab in 1976.
The Christian and the scientist should always seek the truth.
Ken Olsen
The legacy of Ken Olsen has a special place at Gordon College. In 2003, Olsen and his wife, through his philanthropic Stratford Foundation, donated a large sum of money to fund the Ken Olsen Science Center. It is the first, and only building, Olsen allowed to be named after himself.
Bill Gates wrote, in 2006, “He was also a major influence in my life and his influence is still important at Microsoft through all the engineers who trained at Digital and have come here to make great software products.” Olsen’s entrepreneurship in the tech world is still felt to this day.
Friend and fellow Gordon Board member, Tom Phillips, explained how Olsen “was a major philanthropist who did his giving quietly, never seeking recognition of thanks.” This is evident in the numerous plaques, awards, and mementos given to Olsen over his career from outdoor groups to Gordon College.
Olsen was also interested in the preservation of computer history. The first exhibits of the Digital Computer Museum were displayed in the lobby of DEC in 1975. Later, the Computer Museum opened its doors in 1984 and was located on Museum Wharf in Boston. After it closed in 1999, the collection was incorporated into the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA which opened in 2002.
Letter to President R. Jud Carlberg from Bill Gates from April 17, 2006. In response to a letter sent by Gordon College asking Gates or the Gates Foundation to donate a large gift to the Ken Olsen Science Center for the “Heart of Discovery” campaign, Bill Gates sent this letter to then president R. Jud Carlberg. While the request for a gift was not in line with the foundation’s goals, Gates still sent a personal letter outlining how influential Olsen had been in his own life and career.
Text of letter:
April 17, 2006
R. Judson Carlberg
President
Gordon College
255 Grapevine Road
Wenham, MA 01984
Dear President Carlberg:
An inventor, scientist and entrepreneur, Ken Olsen is one of the true pioneers of computing. He was also a major influence on my life. My interest in software was inspired by the DEC computer I first used as a 13-year-old at the Lakeside School. Later, Paul Allen and I used the PDP-10 to create the first version of the BASIC language software for the personal computer. We also enjoyed working with Ken's company as it helped us create the personal computer industry.
Ken's influence is still important at Microsoft through all of the engineers who trained at Digital and have come here to make great software products. The passion and discipline that these engineers learned at DEC are the qalities that we also admire and reward.
It's a pleasure to honor Ken for his contributions to the field of computing and his role in helping to create the computer industry.
Sincerely,
[Bill Gates signature]
Bill Gates
Chakirman and Chief Software Architect
Photo of groundbreaking ceremony of the Ken Olsen Science Center (KOSC) on June 17, 2006. Pictured (L-R): Richard Stout (then chair of Division of Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Computer Science), George Marsh (Payette Associates principal) Aulikki Olsen, Ken Olsen, President R. Judson Carlberg, Kurt Keilhacker (then Board of Trustees Chair), Chris Keeley (Bowdoin Construction Corporation Vice President), Peter Bennett (Trustee and previous Board Chair)
Contractor’s hard hat from the building of the Ken Olsen Science Center (KOSC). The groundbreaking ceremony took place in June 2006 and the building opened in August 2008.
This photo shows (L-R) Win Hindle (retired senior Vice President of DEC), Ken Olsen, Ann Jenkins (Ken’s secretary and personal assistant), and Stan Olsen (Ken’s brother and an executive at DEC) in front of the large clock tower cake.
The photo to the left shows the cake that was served at the “A Salute to Ken Olsen” event that was held for the groundbreaking of KOSC. It was made to look like the clock tower on the top of the DEC mill building in Maynard, MA. It is also a replica of the cake that would be at certain DEC events, but unlike that cake, the bottom layer is the only edible part. The rest of the cake, including the tower, is made of cardboard covered in frosting.
This oar was given to the Stratford Foundation, the foundation created by Ken Olsen, in 1999 form the Maine Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. The dedication reads, with punctuation added, “The Stratford Foundation. In recognition of your dedication and commitment to conservation. St. John River Project. For Maine Forever, 1999.”
Photo of Ken Olsen from the Fortune Magazine story naming him 'America's Most Succesful Entreprenuer' in 1986.
Over the years, Olsen has won a number of awards including:
Olsen also was a part of a number of Boards including:
The Founders Award was established to honor an outstanding member or international member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) who has upheld the ideals and principles of the NAE through professional, educational, and personal achievement and accomplishment. Olsen received this award on November 3, 1982.
In 1986, Fortune magazine named Ken Olsen ‘Americas most successful entrepreneur.’ The cover highlights Olsen’s love of the outdoors as he was an avid outdoorsman. The article within also depicts Olsen in his fishing hat and red flannel standing in a canoe on the edge of a body of water. According to Rifkin & Harrar’s book, The Ultimate Entrepreneur, there is a story of Olsen showing up to DEC on a weekend morning in his flannel shirt. The employee that spotted him supposedly mistook him for the janitor! While this story is likely untrue, it goes to show how Olsen was just a down-to-earth man.
Olsen was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1990 for his pioneering of small computers. Before computers had RAM, a computer read, wrote, and stored data through Magnetic Core Memory, which Olsen helped to create while he was a student at MIT. Olsen held four patents for MCM that helped make his ‘minicomputers’ a success. The patent number for the magnetic core memory is listed at the top of the plaque.
The National Medal of Technology is considered the nation’s highest honor for technological achievement. Olsen received the medal on September 30, 1993.
A photo taken from a Boston Globe article (Oct. 1, 1993) showing President Bill Clinton shaking hands with Ken Olsen as he congratulates Olsen on receiving the National Medal of Technology.
Newspaper article outlining why Ken Olsen received the National Medal of Technology. President Bill Clinton is pictured shaking Olsen’s hand as he awards him the medal.
The Washington Award is given to engineers whose professional attainments have preeminently advanced the welfare of human kind. Olsen received this award in 1994 for “his development of Digital Equipment Corporation into the world’s leading manufacturer of network computer systems and equipment.”
The Computer Pioneer Award was established by the IEEE Computer Society in 1981 to recognize and honor those whose efforts resulted in the creation and continued vitality of the computer industry. Olsen received this award in 1995 for his work with minicomputers.
In 1972, Ken Olsen was presented with an Honorary Doctor of Science from Gordon College for his success in innovating the small computer industry. His work made the idea of small, personal computers a reality and is revered as a pioneer in the success of this industry.
Text of above certificate:
Gordon College
Wenham, Massachusetts
is pleased to honor
KENNETH H. OLSEN
Founder and President of Digital Equipment Coporation, Maynard, Massachusetts.
A man of vision and creative leadership, he pioneered the idea of small computers at a time when industry experts are advised against it, and today Digital Equipment Corporation dominates the small computer market.
An individualist, with clear goals and objectives, he has conducted his personal and business life on the basis of carefully fashioned principles in spite of the pressures of majority opinion. He is a man of strong Christian conviction.
An active Churchman, he has served as a trustee and deacon of Park Street Church in Boston where his major interest has been in Christian Education.
He is a member of the corporation of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his alma mater, and serves on a variety of committees of the United States Government.
His role in the growth and development of Gordon College has been phenomenal. As a member of the Board of Trustees he has served on the Executive Committee and as Chairman of the Development Committee. His leadership and support of the College has been indispensable in enabling it to realize those goals of Christian higher education to which he personally is committed.
He is a Christian gentleman, a man of diligence, good humor, determination, and humility, with a sincere desire to live his life in a way pleasing to God.
We honor ourselves this tenth day of June, nineteen hundred and seventy-two, by presenting for the degree
DOCTOR OF SCIENCE
honoris causa
KENNETH H. OLSEN
A doctoral hood most likely given to Ken Olsen by Gordon College, based no the blue and white colors, when he received an honorary Doctor of Science from the College in 1972.
In 2007, Ken Olsen donated his collection of personal computers, papers, books, and various other belongings to Gordon College. Olsen had a personal investment in Christian education and liked that Gordon taught science in a way that was centered around faith.
Learn more about Olsen's life and about DEC by checking out the resources listed below.
Books & Interviews
Videos
Other Collections
Gordon College is New England’s top Christian college, located on the North Shore of Boston in Wenham, MA.
Gordon College | 255 Grapevine Road, Wenham, MA 01984 | Telephone 978.927.2300