Edmund “Ed” Olson, Big Island businessman and philanthropist, died Monday afternoon at Hilo Benioff Medical Center. He was 93.
Troy Keolanui, Olson’s partner in OK Farms in Hilo, said Olson had been “in declining health for a year or so” but was hospitalized after a fall.
“Ed was a one-of-a-kind person. He just lived a full life,” Keolanui said. “He got up every day and just attacked life.”
The San Diego-born Olson had diverse businesses in Hawaii and California. He started the Superior Gunite Company with $500 at age 25 in 1956, spraying concrete for residential swimming pool shells in the Southwest.
Olson founded A-American Storage in Los Angeles in 1973. It became one of the nation’s largest self-storage companies and made Olson his fortune. In 2012, he estimated his net worth at $160 million.
Despite his wealth, Olson was not into conspicuous consumption. He could be seen in Hilo clad in an aloha shirt and jeans, tooling around in a pickup truck.
Olson’s love affair with Hawaii started in the late 1950s.
“He always loved Hawaii,” Keolanui said. “And when the sugar cane lands on the Big Island became available in large acreage, he was in position to buy those, and lucky for us.”
The Edmund C. Olson Trust II owns more than 15,000 acres of land, most of which is dedicated to sustainable agriculture, with some also set aside for conservation.
“It’s rare to find a man like him who wants to keep the land in conservation and in agriculture,” Keolanui said.
Olson started the Ka‘u Coffee Mill to keep former sugar plantation workers in agriculture.
“We lease land to them so they could grow coffee, and then we buy the coffee at the mill,” Keolanui said. “It wasn’t a get-rich-quick kind of scheme. It was to do something right, and that describes Ed.”
In 2000, Olson partnered with Keolanui to form OK Farms, a tropical fruit, coffee and macadamia farm. Through this partnership, Keolanui and Olson developed a close relationship.
“In the beginning, Ed called the shots, and I was there to execute,” Keolanui said. “And he said to grow coffee — in Hilo. And at that time, no one was growing coffee in Hilo.
“People told us, and Ed loved telling this story, ‘Don’t grow coffee here. It’s going to taste like dirt.’ But they were wrong. We grow a lot of coffee now in Hilo. The coffee’s good. People love it. It’s available in local stores, and we plan on expanding.”
In 2016, Olson contributed $2 million to the Trust for Public Land Hawaii to endow a state directorship position. The TPL in June honored Olson for his lifetime of work and his contribution toward conservation of public spaces to benefit the community.
On its Facebook Page, TPL shared news of Olson’s passing “with a heavy heart.”
“Ed was a strong supporter of TPL’s work protecting ‘aina in Hawaii and we are forever grateful for his generosity and kind spirit,” the post states. “We send our deepest condolences and aloha to his entire ‘ohana during this time.”
Olson also was the former owner of Wainaku Executive Center on Hilo’s northern outskirts, which became an event venue and gathering place. He recently sold the shoreline property to Ola Brew.
“He really loved people, and he treated everyone like family,” Keolanui said. “Man, we’re gonna miss him.”
Olson is survived by his wife, Sammie Stanbro, and three sons.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
