Mark Olson

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Mark Olson established himself from the mid-1980s in a register between folk, Americana and alternative country. Co-founder of the Jayhawks in 1985 with Gary Louris, Mark Olson contributed to establishing a sound that blended vocal harmonies, acoustic and electric guitars, and songwriting shaped by the American roots tradition, as illustrated by Hollywood Town Hall in 1992 and Tomorrow the Green Grass in 1995. After leaving the group that same year, he moved toward a more stripped-down and pastoral expression with The Original Harmony Ridge Creekdippers, a project led notably with Victoria Williams, which produced several albums between 1997 and 2004, including The Original Harmony Ridge Creek Dippers in 1997, Pacific Coast Rambler in 1998 and Zola and the Tulip Tree in 1999. As a solo artist, Mark Olson continued this introspective vein with The Salvation Blues in 2007 and Many Colored Kite in 2010, in a style made of acoustic folk, soft country and understated arrangements. He also reunites with Gary Louris for the collaborative Ready for the Flood in 2008, then briefly joins the Jayhawks for Mockingbird Time in 2011. Since the 2010s, Mark Olson has developed a more itinerant body of work, nourished by collaborations with Ingunn Ringvold, while remaining attached to straightforward writing, rustic textures and the most organic forms of American music.