Personal information
Biography
Biosketch
Dr. Olsen is founder/CEO of EyeMacular Regeneration, Inc. (Surgical Devices for Macular Regeneration, 2023) and iMacular Regeneration, LLC (information technology in Macular Regeneration, 2016).
Dr. Olsen retired from clinical/surgical care after 33 years of practice. Most recently, he served as Professor & Consultant at Mayo Clinic (2017-23), Rochester Minnesota. Previously, he served as Chair of Ophthalmology, F. Phinizy Calhoun Sr. Professor, Director of the Emory Eye Center; Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia (2007-16), now Chair Emeritus (2016-present); Emory School of Medicine. He served as President for both the American Ophthalmological Society (AOS) and the Minnesota Academy of Ophthalmology (MAO) from 2023-24.
From 1998-2007, Dr. Olsen held the William H. Knobloch endowed Retina Chair at the University of Minnesota and served as Director of the Retina Service & Minnesota Lions Macular Degeneration Center.
Dr. Olsen graduated summa cum laude and phi beta kappa from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, then the KU Medical Center in Kansas City, AOA, completed his Ophthalmology Residency at the University of Minnesota, and Vitreoretinal Surgical Fellowship at Emory University. From 1996-98 he was an Assistant Professor in Ophthalmology at the University of Wisconsin.
Dr. Olsen’s primary area of research is Age related Macular Degeneration (AMD). He pioneered three novel ophthalmic drug delivery pathways: 1) transscleral, 2) suprachoroidal, and 3) aerosolized drug delivery. He developed the Minnesota Grading System (MGS) of eye bank eyes, the Economic model of Retinopathy of Prematurity (EcROP) and is published in the field of macular and retinal disease. He has over $9.8M in research support. He was awarded the Young Investigator Award by the Macula Society, Love of Sight Visionary Award from FFB in Washington, and the Research and Innovation Award by the Lions World Vision Institute where he currently serves as Chair of the Research Advisory Board. He was designated a Top Doctor in 4 cities, received six distinguished teaching awards from four Universities, trained over 175 residents, 35 fellows, 13 post-doctoral, and numerous medical students, published over 200 peer reviewed articles, book chapters, and nomographs. He’s delivered over 485 national and international lectures.