- Date Of Birth: August 6, 1931
- Date Of Death: June 9, 2022
- State: Texas
Walther A. Olsen, August 6, 1931 – June 9, 2022.
Rev. Olsen died Thursday, June 9, 2022, in a Temple Skilled Nursing Center.
Rev. Olsen was born August 6, 1931, in Los Angeles, California, the son of Walther A. and Emily (Vetter) Olsen. He married Rachel Ann Sarason in 1960, in Pasadena, California. Rev. Olsen was a veteran of the Korean War and a graduate of Biola University, Denver Seminary and Fuller Seminary. At Fuller, he was mentored by the world’s leading missiologists and Church Growth pioneers, and used that knowledge as a missionary in France between 1964 and 1976.
While there he planted churches, conducted a ground-breaking study analyzing conversion patterns among French evangelicals, and presented the national dossier on France at the historic 1974 International Conference on World Evangelization in Lausanne, Switzerland. He later taught Missions, Anthropology and Comparative Religions at LeTourneau University, before becoming a beloved pastor in Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado. He spent his later years in Temple, Texas, where he taught Bible classes, cared for his family and ministered to all he knew at a local retirement community.
Walther was preceded in death by his beloved wife Rachel, and brothers Dick and Hans. Survivors include, two sons, Mark Olsen and wife Connie; and John Olsen and wife Larissa; and seven grandchildren.
