Larry Olson, who worked for 63 years at the Federal Communications Commission, died Sept. 16 at the age of 86.
Olson retired in March 2025 from the FCC’s Office of International Affairs. In addition to his time as the office’s assistant chief, he also served as an electronics engineer and international negotiator.
According to his obituary, he was part of the FCC’s policy and rules division, which included a review of the technical assignment criteria for the AM broadcast service. In the 1960s, he designed a directional antenna for the Voice of America to beam programming to Cuba.
Throughout his career, Olson served as International Telecommunication Union vice chair for several study groups and sat on its special committee, the obituary reads. He also participated in President Clinton’s Far East initiative, meeting with officials from Jordan, Israel and Egypt to establish frameworks for joint mobile frequency usage.
Additionally, Olson led U.S. delegations to meetings of CITEL, the ITU and the U.S.–Canada Radio Technical Liaison Committee.
“Despite his notable professional accomplishments, he considered his most outstanding achievement to be the relationship he enjoyed with his family,” his obituary stated.
Funeral services will take place Thursday at Raymond Funeral Service in La Plata, Md. Visitation begins at 1 p.m., followed by a service at 3 p.m.
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