Ken Olsen facts for kids

Kenneth Harry Olsen (born February 20, 1926 – died February 6, 2011) was an American engineer and entrepreneur. He is best known for starting Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1957 with Harlan Anderson. DEC became a very important computer company.

Early Life and Education

Ken Olsen was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He grew up in Stratford, Connecticut, which is a town nearby. His family had roots in Norway and Sweden. When he was young, Olsen worked during the summers in a machine shop. He also enjoyed fixing radios in his basement.

Olsen served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. After his time in the Navy, he went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He earned two degrees in electrical engineering, one in 1950 and another in 1952.

Building a Computer Company

While studying at MIT, Ken Olsen helped build a special flight simulator for the United States Department of the Navy. He also led a project to create the first research computer that used transistors. Later, he worked as an engineer at Lincoln Laboratory on a computer project called TX-2.

In 1957, Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson, who also worked at MIT, decided to start their own company. They got money from a company called American Research and Development Corporation (ARDC). This company helped new businesses get started. Their new company, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), set up its main office in an old wool mill in Maynard, Massachusetts.

Over the years, Olsen received several patents for his inventions. These included new ways to make computer parts work better. DEC grew very large. In 1992, the company had its highest sales, earning $14 billion. Later, in 1999, DEC was sold to Compaq for $9.6 billion. Compaq then became part of Hewlett-Packard.

Ken Olsen was known for his unique way of managing people. He treated his employees like family and always encouraged new ideas in engineering. He believed that new inventions and excellent technical work were very important. He used a management style called "engineering matrix management", which is still used in many industries today.

His achievements were recognized with awards. In 1980, he received the Vermilye Medal. In 1986, Fortune Magazine called him "America's most successful entrepreneur." That same year, he also received the IEEE Engineering Leadership Recognition Award.

Later Years and Beliefs

In 1987, Ken Olsen gave some talks where he shared his thoughts on computer systems. He believed that DEC's own operating system, called VMS, was better for their customers than UNIX. However, he did allow and support a plan within DEC to create a version of UNIX for their VAX computers. This version was called Ultrix.

Olsen retired from DEC in 1992. After retiring, he became the chairman of a company called Advanced Modular Solutions. He was also involved with The Family, a religious and political organization. Olsen was also a trustee at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. The college later named a science center after him.

Death

Ken Olsen passed away on February 6, 2011, in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was 84 years old. He was in hospice care at the time. The exact cause of his death was not shared publicly by his family.

Famous Sayings

Two things Ken Olsen said are often repeated. It's important to understand what he meant when he said them:

• There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home. (1977)

* When he said this, he was talking about computers that would control everything in a house, like opening doors or turning water on and off automatically. He actually had a computer in his own home for regular use and wanted people to use home computers for general tasks.

• People will get tired of managing personal computers and will want instead terminals, maybe with windows. (1992)

* This idea predicted what we now call thin clients and the client-server model of the Internet. When Olsen said "windows," he was not talking about Microsoft Windows. He meant showing more than one computer program on a screen at the same time.

See also

In Spanish: Ken Olsen para niños