George H. Olmsted
Encyclopedia
Major General George H. Olmsted (March 18, 1901, Des Moines, Iowa
- October 8, 1998) was an American military officer and insurance executive.
briefly during the fall of 1918 before receiving his appointment to the United States Military Academy
at West Point on November 4, 1918.
By the beginning of 1924, they had expanded the agency into a general line fire and casualty agency named Olmsted & Olmsted. In September 1924, he married Virginia Camp, his high school sweetheart and left his father to start his own firm, Olmsted Inc. Agency. By 1928, his business had grown sufficiently to enable him to make his first purchase of another company, Travelers Mutual Casualty Company of Des Moines.
Attracting a great following among the younger businessmen of Des Moines, George Olmsted was elected President of the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Des Moines in 1927 and in 1929 was elected President of the National Junior Chamber of Commerce. A notable accomplishment during his tenure was the establishment of the "Outstanding Young Man of the Year" award. He attracted the attention of prominent persons at the national level of the Republican Party and was invited to meet with President Herbert Hoover
at the White House
. The President asked him to direct the activities of the Young Republican Division of the party in the upcoming general election of 1932 which he did. After the election, he continued to direct the Division until it evolved into the Young Republican National Committee which elected him its first President. He later served as the head of the Young Republican National Federation, now the College Republican National Committee.
Travelers Mutual struggled through the depression years becoming one of the first companies to offer insurance and premium financing to the fledgling long haul trucking industry. Operations were expanded into Nebraska
, Kansas
, Missouri
, and Illinois
. In 1938, George Olmsted purchased the United Automobile Insurance Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan and the Hawkeye Casualty Company of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This was followed in 1940 by the purchase of the Illinois Casualty Company of Springfield, Illinois
. Operating headquarters for all of the companies were consolidated in Des Moines and a management team was established that would carry the companies through the hard years to come.
In 1944, then Colonel Olmsted's wife Virginia died. Shortly thereafter he was sent to China to serve on the staff of General Albert Wedemeyer and to establish a new general staff section known as G-5 for the China-Burma-India Theater. Colonel Olmsted was promoted to Brigadier General
and took command of the G-5 section which was responsible for civil (Economic and Political) affairs, lend lease operations, training of allied military forces, and clandestine operations.
As World War II came to a close in the Pacific, a new situation faced the allies in China. Thousands of allied prisoners of war (including General Jonathan Wainwright
, the hero of Bataan) were being held in eleven Japanese POW camps in China. Working with the Office of Strategic Services
(OSS), US Navy Intelligence, and allied intelligence services, the locations of all eleven camps were pinpointed and General Olmsted was ordered to plan and direct an operation to notify the Japanese as soon as a surrender had been announced and to ensure that they cooperated in the safe repatriation of the prisoners. His plan called for leaflets to be dropped by aircraft on each camp immediately after the surrender. Shortly after that, a team of seven unarmed men were to parachute into each camp carrying with them letters signed by General Wedemeyer addressed to the Japanese camp commander by name. The letters stated that the war was over, that the allied powers would hold the camp commander personally responsible for the safety of the prisoners and that he should fully cooperate in an immediate repatriation. No one was quite sure how the Japanese would react to this. However, the operation was carried out as planned, there were no hostilities, no one was injured, and the Japanese agreed to cooperate fully.
The last great problem to face General Olmsted in China was what to do with the surplus equipment that had to be left behind in the Theater as American forces departed to come home. Not wishing to see all that stuff abandoned in place, General Olmsted managed to work out a bulk sale to the Chinese government. When he heard about it, President Truman was reported to have said, "this was the best liquidation of surplus US equipment anywhere in the world".
For his services during World War II, General Olmsted received the Distinguished Service Medal
, the Legion of Merit
, and the Bronze Star Medal
. From the French government he received the Legion of Honor
, the British Government made him an Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and the government of China honored him with the Order of the Sacred Tripod
and the Special Order of Pao Ting.
and they were married in 1949. Recalled to active duty with the Army in 1950, General Olmsted assumed command of the Army's military assistance operations. Once again, it was a case of finding the equipment and resources that Allied Governments requested and getting it to them. So successful were his activities that he was promoted to Major General
in 1951 and assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense to assume command of all US government military assistance be it Army, Navy, or Air Force. Released from active service in 1953, Olmsted returned to Des Moines to resume his business career. He continued, however, to serve in the Army Reserve and was the Commanding General of the 103rd Infantry Division USAR from 1953 to 1959.
Shortly after his separation from active duty in 1953, General Olmsted bought control of United Services Life Insurance Company, which wrote life insurance for officers of the military services. In 1955, he purchased control of International Bank of Washington. In 1959, he purchased Financial General Bankshares, the 7th largest bank holding company in the country, from his partners at the Equity Corporation. The final form for Olmsted's business ventures had come into being. All of the companies were grouped under International Bank or Financial General, both of which were headquartered in Washington, D.C.
International Bank was headquartered in a building at at 1701 Pennsylvania Avenue (diagonally across from the Old Executive Office Building and the White House) in Washington and controlled the activities of several companies which were separated into five operating groups:
Financial General was a domestic bank holding company which held controlling interests in 26 banks located in seven states and the District of Columbia. It was one of the few banks in the country that had been grandfathered to do business across state lines after the McFadden Act
largely banned interstate banking. In 1966, following years of criticism from other banks, the Federal Reserve ruled that Financial General was a bank holding company, and as such could not be owned by International Bank (which despite its name was largely an insurance company). Olmsted was ordered to sell off Financial General by 1978. It eventually went to a group of Arab investors who were actually nominees for the Bank of Credit and Commerce International
. This group changed FGB's name to First American Bankshares, which would remain a secret subsidiary of BCCI until the latter's shutdown in 1991.
Throughout his career, General Olmsted worked with colleges and universities and sought to enhance the availability and quality of higher education for all people. He served on the Board of Trustees at Drake University
in Des Moines, the American University in Washington, the West Point Association of Graduates, the West Point Alumni Foundation, and from 1973 to 1978, at the appointment of President Nixon
, on the Board of Visitors at West Point. He has been honored with degrees from several universities: Doctor of Laws -Drake University
. Doctor of International Relations -Southeastern University
. Doctor of Business Administration -Iowa Wesleyan College
. Doctor of Commercial Science -Coe College
.
and the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, the Program offers financial grants to outstanding graduates of the three service academies and the ROTC for two years of graduate study and educational travel in a foreign country.
Each year, at least three graduates from each service academy and three career officer graduates from the ROTC are competitively selected. They enroll as full time, resident students at a foreign university of their choice which has been approved by their service and the Foundation Board Of Directors. While they may choose their course of study with the approval of their service, it is generally preferred that they study in a non-technical curriculum. Studies are usually conducted in the language of the country in which the university is located, except in rare cases where the language of instruction may be English but the surrounding culture is non-English speaking. Scholars are expected to travel extensively throughout the region where the university is located interacting with the residents and learning as much as they can about local customs, traditions and history.
Since 1959, 348 officers have been selected as Olmsted Scholars. They have attended over 121 different universities located in 41 different countries. Today, there are 27 general or flag rank officers either active or retired who have been Olmsted Scholars, including one former Chief of Naval operations, the last Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Air Command and recently retired commander of United States Central Command
(CENTCOM), General John Abizaid
.
Throughout General Olmsted's long career, he had been a champion of the concepts of better education, jobs, and opportunities for all people. In the fields of banking and insurance, he brought availability and affordability of products and services to a market that was battered by the Great Depression. He carried on the dream of Arthur J. Morris, the founder of Financial General Corporation, that "anyone who has a steady job can qualify for installment credit from a bank".
Olmsted died in October 1998 after a long period of incapacitation due to a stroke in the mid-1980s. He was survived by three children, eight grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and the enduring legacy of 440 plus Olmsted Scholars.
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
- October 8, 1998) was an American military officer and insurance executive.
Early life
He was the second of four children of Ernest and Alice Lockwood Olmsted, graduated from West High School in Des Moines and attended Iowa State UniversityIowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
briefly during the fall of 1918 before receiving his appointment to the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
at West Point on November 4, 1918.
West Point
During his four year attendance at West Point, he was President of his class for three years. He graduated on June 22, 1922 holding the position of First Captain of the Corps of Cadets, ranking second in his class academically. He also served as Chairman of the Student Honor Committee and Assistant Business Manager of the Howitzer, the annual yearbook. In athletics, General Olmsted was the featherweight boxing champion of the Academy and won his varsity "A" as manager and second string quarterback of the 1922 Army football team.Civilian interlude
After graduation, Lieutenant Olmsted served in the active army until October 1923 when he returned to civilian life in Des Moines to enter business with his father who was running a small insurance agency.By the beginning of 1924, they had expanded the agency into a general line fire and casualty agency named Olmsted & Olmsted. In September 1924, he married Virginia Camp, his high school sweetheart and left his father to start his own firm, Olmsted Inc. Agency. By 1928, his business had grown sufficiently to enable him to make his first purchase of another company, Travelers Mutual Casualty Company of Des Moines.
Attracting a great following among the younger businessmen of Des Moines, George Olmsted was elected President of the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Des Moines in 1927 and in 1929 was elected President of the National Junior Chamber of Commerce. A notable accomplishment during his tenure was the establishment of the "Outstanding Young Man of the Year" award. He attracted the attention of prominent persons at the national level of the Republican Party and was invited to meet with President Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
. The President asked him to direct the activities of the Young Republican Division of the party in the upcoming general election of 1932 which he did. After the election, he continued to direct the Division until it evolved into the Young Republican National Committee which elected him its first President. He later served as the head of the Young Republican National Federation, now the College Republican National Committee.
Travelers Mutual struggled through the depression years becoming one of the first companies to offer insurance and premium financing to the fledgling long haul trucking industry. Operations were expanded into Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, and Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. In 1938, George Olmsted purchased the United Automobile Insurance Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan and the Hawkeye Casualty Company of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. This was followed in 1940 by the purchase of the Illinois Casualty Company of Springfield, Illinois
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
. Operating headquarters for all of the companies were consolidated in Des Moines and a management team was established that would carry the companies through the hard years to come.
World War II
Recalled to active service in the Army in January 1942, then Major Olmsted commanded the Requirements and Assignments Branch, International Division, Army Service Forces which handled Lend Lease requests from allied governments for Army material and equipment. In this position he had to balance the complex, simultaneous equations of American industrial production schedules and capacity, American military requirements, urgent requests for help from allied governments and the demands of the current strategic situation. Frantic appeals were coming to the United States from Great Britain, the Soviet Union, China, and Free French Forces in North Africa. All of these appeals had to be dealt with as rapidly or as diplomatically as possible. In addition, Major Olmsted established programs to ensure delivery of assistance to the correct place at the promised time as well as programs to train the recipients in the use and maintenance of the equipment.In 1944, then Colonel Olmsted's wife Virginia died. Shortly thereafter he was sent to China to serve on the staff of General Albert Wedemeyer and to establish a new general staff section known as G-5 for the China-Burma-India Theater. Colonel Olmsted was promoted to Brigadier General
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
and took command of the G-5 section which was responsible for civil (Economic and Political) affairs, lend lease operations, training of allied military forces, and clandestine operations.
As World War II came to a close in the Pacific, a new situation faced the allies in China. Thousands of allied prisoners of war (including General Jonathan Wainwright
Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV
Jonathan Mayhew "Skinny" Wainwright IV was a career American army officer and the commander of Allied forces in the Philippines at the time of their surrender to the Empire of Japan during World War II...
, the hero of Bataan) were being held in eleven Japanese POW camps in China. Working with the Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
(OSS), US Navy Intelligence, and allied intelligence services, the locations of all eleven camps were pinpointed and General Olmsted was ordered to plan and direct an operation to notify the Japanese as soon as a surrender had been announced and to ensure that they cooperated in the safe repatriation of the prisoners. His plan called for leaflets to be dropped by aircraft on each camp immediately after the surrender. Shortly after that, a team of seven unarmed men were to parachute into each camp carrying with them letters signed by General Wedemeyer addressed to the Japanese camp commander by name. The letters stated that the war was over, that the allied powers would hold the camp commander personally responsible for the safety of the prisoners and that he should fully cooperate in an immediate repatriation. No one was quite sure how the Japanese would react to this. However, the operation was carried out as planned, there were no hostilities, no one was injured, and the Japanese agreed to cooperate fully.
The last great problem to face General Olmsted in China was what to do with the surplus equipment that had to be left behind in the Theater as American forces departed to come home. Not wishing to see all that stuff abandoned in place, General Olmsted managed to work out a bulk sale to the Chinese government. When he heard about it, President Truman was reported to have said, "this was the best liquidation of surplus US equipment anywhere in the world".
For his services during World War II, General Olmsted received the Distinguished Service Medal
Distinguished Service Medal (United States)
The Distinguished Service Medal is the highest non-valorous military and civilian decoration of the United States military which is issued for exceptionally meritorious service to the government of the United States in either a senior government service position or as a senior officer of the United...
, the Legion of Merit
Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
, and the Bronze Star Medal
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
. From the French government he received the Legion of Honor
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
, the British Government made him an Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and the government of China honored him with the Order of the Sacred Tripod
Order of the Sacred Tripod
The Order of the Sacred Tripod, Order of the Precious Tripod or Pao Ting is a military award from the Republic of China. It was created on 15 May 1929 for significant contributions to national security....
and the Special Order of Pao Ting.
Post war
General Olmsted returned to Des Moines in 1946. The management team that he had built in his companies before leaving for military service had performed well during the war years and his return became a matter of picking up where he had left off. After an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for governor of Iowa in 1947, he continued to expand his business activities and became a partner in the Equity Corporation in New York. In 1948 he met Carol Shearing of Marilla, New YorkMarilla, New York
Marilla is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 5,709 at the 2000 census. The name of the town is derived from Marilla Rogers, an early school teacher....
and they were married in 1949. Recalled to active duty with the Army in 1950, General Olmsted assumed command of the Army's military assistance operations. Once again, it was a case of finding the equipment and resources that Allied Governments requested and getting it to them. So successful were his activities that he was promoted to Major General
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
in 1951 and assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense to assume command of all US government military assistance be it Army, Navy, or Air Force. Released from active service in 1953, Olmsted returned to Des Moines to resume his business career. He continued, however, to serve in the Army Reserve and was the Commanding General of the 103rd Infantry Division USAR from 1953 to 1959.
Shortly after his separation from active duty in 1953, General Olmsted bought control of United Services Life Insurance Company, which wrote life insurance for officers of the military services. In 1955, he purchased control of International Bank of Washington. In 1959, he purchased Financial General Bankshares, the 7th largest bank holding company in the country, from his partners at the Equity Corporation. The final form for Olmsted's business ventures had come into being. All of the companies were grouped under International Bank or Financial General, both of which were headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
International Bank was headquartered in a building at at 1701 Pennsylvania Avenue (diagonally across from the Old Executive Office Building and the White House) in Washington and controlled the activities of several companies which were separated into five operating groups:
- The Life Insurance Group -United Services Life Insurance Company/Bankers Security Life Insurance Society.
- The Property and Casualty Insurance Group -Hawkeye-Security Insurance Company and the other insurance companies in Des Moines.
- The International Maritime Group -The International Trust Company of Liberia which administered the registration of vessels under the Liberian flag.
- The International Banking Group -Ownership interests with local partners in commercial banks in 10 foreign countries.
- The Industrial Group -Globe Industries, Kliklok Corporation, Avis Industrial Corporation, and a 16% ownership of Foster Wheeler Corporation.
Financial General was a domestic bank holding company which held controlling interests in 26 banks located in seven states and the District of Columbia. It was one of the few banks in the country that had been grandfathered to do business across state lines after the McFadden Act
McFadden Act
The McFadden Act is a United States federal law, named after Louis Thomas McFadden member of the United States House of Representatives and Chairman of the United States House Committee on Banking and Currency, enacted in 1927 from recommendations made by the comptroller of the currency Henry May...
largely banned interstate banking. In 1966, following years of criticism from other banks, the Federal Reserve ruled that Financial General was a bank holding company, and as such could not be owned by International Bank (which despite its name was largely an insurance company). Olmsted was ordered to sell off Financial General by 1978. It eventually went to a group of Arab investors who were actually nominees for the Bank of Credit and Commerce International
Bank of Credit and Commerce International
The Bank of Credit and Commerce International was a major international bank founded in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a Pakistani financier. The Bank was registered in Luxembourg with head offices in Karachi and London. Within a decade BCCI touched its peak...
. This group changed FGB's name to First American Bankshares, which would remain a secret subsidiary of BCCI until the latter's shutdown in 1991.
Throughout his career, General Olmsted worked with colleges and universities and sought to enhance the availability and quality of higher education for all people. He served on the Board of Trustees at Drake University
Drake University
Drake University is a private, co-educational university located in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The institution offers a number of undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and pharmacy. Today, Drake is one of the twenty-five oldest law schools in the country....
in Des Moines, the American University in Washington, the West Point Association of Graduates, the West Point Alumni Foundation, and from 1973 to 1978, at the appointment of President Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, on the Board of Visitors at West Point. He has been honored with degrees from several universities: Doctor of Laws -Drake University
Drake University
Drake University is a private, co-educational university located in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The institution offers a number of undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and pharmacy. Today, Drake is one of the twenty-five oldest law schools in the country....
. Doctor of International Relations -Southeastern University
Southeastern University
Located in southwestern Washington, D.C., in the United States, Southeastern University was a private, non-profit undergraduate and graduate institution of higher education that lost its accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education on August 31, 2009. The Commission reported...
. Doctor of Business Administration -Iowa Wesleyan College
Iowa Wesleyan College
Iowa Wesleyan College is a private four-year liberal arts college of the United Methodist Church located Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.Iowa Wesleyan is recognized as a pioneer in higher education in America. Founded in 1842, it ranks as the oldest coeducational college located west of the Mississippi River...
. Doctor of Commercial Science -Coe College
Coe College
Coe College is a private, four-year, liberal arts college in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Founded in 1851, the institution is historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church . Its current president is James R. Phifer. It is one of the smaller universities to have a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa...
.
George and Carol Olmsted Foundation
In 1959, General Olmsted and his wife Carol established the George Olmsted Foundation. The foundation later changed its name to the George and Carol Olmsted foundation. The principal activity of the Foundation is the Olmsted Scholar Program. Working with the support and cooperation of the Department of DefenseUnited States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
and the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, the Program offers financial grants to outstanding graduates of the three service academies and the ROTC for two years of graduate study and educational travel in a foreign country.
Each year, at least three graduates from each service academy and three career officer graduates from the ROTC are competitively selected. They enroll as full time, resident students at a foreign university of their choice which has been approved by their service and the Foundation Board Of Directors. While they may choose their course of study with the approval of their service, it is generally preferred that they study in a non-technical curriculum. Studies are usually conducted in the language of the country in which the university is located, except in rare cases where the language of instruction may be English but the surrounding culture is non-English speaking. Scholars are expected to travel extensively throughout the region where the university is located interacting with the residents and learning as much as they can about local customs, traditions and history.
Since 1959, 348 officers have been selected as Olmsted Scholars. They have attended over 121 different universities located in 41 different countries. Today, there are 27 general or flag rank officers either active or retired who have been Olmsted Scholars, including one former Chief of Naval operations, the last Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Air Command and recently retired commander of United States Central Command
United States Central Command
The United States Central Command is a theater-level Unified Combatant Command unit of the U.S. armed forces, established in 1983 under the operational control of the U.S. Secretary of Defense...
(CENTCOM), General John Abizaid
John Abizaid
John Philip Abizaid, AO is a retired General in the United States Army and former Commander of the United States Central Command , overseeing American military operations in a 27-country region, from the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, to South and Central Asia, covering much of the Middle...
.
Throughout General Olmsted's long career, he had been a champion of the concepts of better education, jobs, and opportunities for all people. In the fields of banking and insurance, he brought availability and affordability of products and services to a market that was battered by the Great Depression. He carried on the dream of Arthur J. Morris, the founder of Financial General Corporation, that "anyone who has a steady job can qualify for installment credit from a bank".
Olmsted died in October 1998 after a long period of incapacitation due to a stroke in the mid-1980s. He was survived by three children, eight grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and the enduring legacy of 440 plus Olmsted Scholars.