Olsen was often referred to as Australia’s greatest living painter.
He received an OBE in 1977 for services to the arts and an Order of Australia (AO) in 2001. His other professional awards include an Australian Creative Fellowship in 1993, and twice winning the the Wynne Prize, in 1969 and 1985 amongst many other awards throughout his long career.
He is represented in all Australian State Collections and nationwide in regional galleries, as well as in major public and private collections in Australia, Europe, the UK, and the United States.
Olsen was represented in the 1989 Archibald Prize with Donde voy? Self portrait in moments of doubt. He won the 2005 prize for Self Portrait Janus Faced.
His son, Tim Olsen, wrote a memoir about his life as the son of a famous artist, Son of the Brush. His daughter, Louise Olsen, was a co-founder of cult fashion and interior design business Dinosaur Designs.
Sources include http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/prizes/archibald/2005/28103.
