Ken Olsen

Ken Olsen

Kenneth Harry Olsen (born on February 20, 1926) is an American engineer who co-founded Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1957 with colleague Harlan Anderson and venture capital provided by Georges Doriot's American Research and Development Corporation. He was born in Stratford, Connecticut. Olsen was a Massachusetts engineer who had been working at MIT Lincoln Laboratory on the TX-2 project.

In 1977, he infamously quipped, "there is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home." However, this quote is often taken out of context, since the computer he was referring to was not the same as the modern PC, but one of science fiction: "...the fully computerized home that automatically turned lights on and off and that prepared meals and controlled daily diets ...". Olsen on many occasions mentioned having computers in his home.

In 1987 he gave the first of his infamous 'snake oil speeches', taken by some to be referring indirectly to the Unix Conspiracy. While Olsen believed VMS was a better solution for DEC customers and often talked of the strengths of the system, he did approve and encourage an internal effort to produce a native BSD-based UNIX product on the VAX line of computers called Ultrix. However, this line never got enthusiastic comprehensive support at DEC.[citation needed]

Olsen retired from DEC in 1992. He subsequently became the chairman of Advanced Modular Systems.

Olson is a trustee of Gordon College (Massachusetts). The Ken Olsen Science Center was named after him in 2006.

He holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering from MIT.