Gregory Olsen
Gregory Hammond Olsen (born April 20, 1945) is an American entrepreneur, engineer and scientist who, in October 2005, became the third private citizen to make a self-funded trip to the International Space Station with the company Space Adventures.
Gregory Olsen | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 20, 1945 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Fairleigh Dickinson University (B.S., B.Eng, M.S.) University of Virginia (Ph.D.) |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Space career | |
| Space Adventures Tourist | |
Time in space | 9d 21h 15m |
| Missions | Soyuz TMA-7 / Soyuz TMA-6 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Material science |
| Thesis | The fcc-bcc transformation in thin iron films. (1970) |
| Doctoral advisor | William A. Jesser |
Olsen was the co-founder and chairman of Sensors Unlimited Inc., a company developing optoelectronic devices such as sensitive near-infrared (NIR) and shortwave-infrared (SWIR) cameras. One of Sensors Unlimited's major customers is NASA. Currently, Olsen is President of GHO Ventures, LLC, in Princeton, New Jersey, where he manages his angel investments, South African winery, Montana ranch, Manhattan and Miami real estate, and performs numerous speaking engagements to encourage children – especially minority and female children – to consider careers in science or engineering. He also is a physics professor at Rider University.