Kaʻū News Briefs July 17, 2024

Troy Keolanui, front left, and his mentor, the late Ed Olson and Olson's wife Sammie Stanbro. On June 8, Olson was honored by Trust for Public Land for "his many years of dedicated service to our mission." TPL helps to place special lands in the public trust and worked with Olson to conserve Kawā, Honu'apo and other properties in Hawai'i. To Keolanui's right are daughters Dayva and Aelani, wife Ala and his sister Mel Keolanui. Photo from TPL

EDMUND C. OLSON PASSED AWAY ON MONDAY, July 15. The 93 year-old philanthropist, who donated to the conservation of Kaʻū's Coast, agricultural lands and forest, also founded Kaʻū Coffee Mill. He and his team supported the Kaʻū Coffee Festival and Miss Kaʻū Coffee Pageants, and led promotions to international coffee conventions to help cement the success of the Kaʻū Coffee brand. He supported all the Kaʻū Coffee farmers in the presentation of their coffees at a presidential inaugural ball in Washington, D.C.

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Olson built Kaʻū Coffee mill to give farmers a place
to process their coffee. Photo from Kaʻū Coffee Mill

    Over the years, Olson's contributions in Kaʻū included funding for The Nature Conservancy and Trust for Public Land. Olson outright purchased hundreds of acres along the Ka'u Coast at Honu'apo to prevent its development with help from TPL's Josh Stanbro. Olson also assisted with the purchase of Kawā for conservation of the Ka'u Coast.

     Olson and his team contributed vans to Kaʻū Hospital and Kaʻū High School, and recently provided free eye exams and glasses to school children throughout east Hawai'i. 

Olson provided the town Christmas tree and annually sponsored Eddie Andrade's Pāhala Christmas Parade. The Olson team continued to fund its transition to the Pāhala Town Lighted Christmas Parade when Andrade retired from the effort in 2023 after 40 years.

    Olson has also contributed to the local Halau Hula O Leionalani and other community nonprofits and has hosted the annual Kaʻū Coffee Trail Run in cooperation with O Kaʻū Kākou. It begins and ends at Kaʻū Coffee Mill.
    A statement from the Edmund C. Olson Foundation said his mission, legacy and philanthropy will continue beyond his passing.         Olson interests in Kaʻū include thousands of acres of macadamia orchards, coffee, pastures and forests, a hydroelectric plant, two homes and the old Pāhala Clubhouse, Pāhala Center with its bank, post office, shops and Mizuno Superette.         

    The Olson reach goes beyond Kaʻū to OK Farms in Hilo and the Wainaku Executive Center on Hilo coast. Olson helped Ola Brew founders with a new venture to purchase his Wiankau Executive Center to create a distillery to make ʻōkolehao from the root of the tī plant. 

    Olson also owns land and businesses on O'ahu and in California.

    The statement from the Foundation says, "Mr. Olson was a highly successful self-made businessman and philanthropist who made a significant impact on the quality of life for many people, especially residents on the Big Island of Hawai'i He was a savvy entrepreneur who had a great vision for new opportunities and always found a way to help those in need. Most importantly, he cared about people and giving back to the community he loved." 

    One of his latest purchases was Mizuno Superette in Pāhala, which was in danger of shutting down. With Olson ownership it is now operated by Carl Okuyama and his 'Ohana Foods.

    One of the recent gifts from Olson was providing $200,000 in scholarships, with preference to Kaʻū students studying agriculture at University of Hawai'i at Hilo.
    The statement notes that most of Olson's 15,000 acres in Hawai'i is dedicated to sustainable agriculture. "He started the Kaʻū Coffee Mill in order to provide Kaʻū Coffee growers a place to process their coffee which led to a significant growth the the Kaʻū Coffee region. Mr. Olson operated thousands of acres of macadamia nut orchards and purchased Hamakua Macadamia nut Company to process and market the nuts."

Ed Olson, center, who donated $200,000 for scholarships to study agriculture at U.H. Hilo,
with a preference for Kaʻū students. At left are Troy Keolanui, Sammie Stanbro and recipient Keya Davies.
At his right is recipient Kassey Hanoa and Jeff Clark, of Olson Trust.

    In the early 2000's Olson partnered with Troy Keolanui to form OK Farms in Hilo, a tropical fruit and macadamia farm. Through their partnership, Keolanui and Olson developed a close relationship that has endured. Keolanui said, "He made everyone feel like family; we will truly miss him."
    On the mainland, Olson grew A-American Storage, based in Los Angeles, to become the fifth largest self-storage operator in the country, with more than 100 locations. His approach was to buy up failing mom and pop mini storages across the country, streamline their operations but keep the owners on his team. On his 75th birthday, many of the mini-storage owners he rescued surprised him at a birthday party in Malibu, California and thanked him for helping them to become successful.

    Earlier in his career, after a stint in the Marines, Olson worked his way up from toiling on construction sites to becoming a contractor and specialized in Gunite. It involved the spraying of concrete for thousands of swimming pools, water and drainage canals and water piping, including some of the big waterlines coming into Los Angeles. In Washington, D.C. he built part of the Department of Labor building. In Sacramento, he worked on the California state Capitol building dome.

Ed Olson follows Father Joel for the blessing of Kaʻū Coffee Mill in 2012. Photo by Julia Neal

    Olson came to Hawai'i to work on bridges on the road to Hana. 

    Olson lived with his wife Sammie Stanbro at their farm north of Hilo on the Wailuku River. She is also known for her work in land conservation, in particular the passing of the "Two Percent Fund," which provides property tax funding to purchase and steward special lands on this island.

    On June 8, Olson was honored by Trust for Public Land for his lifetime of work and contributions towards conservation of public spaces that benefit the community. On the same day he came to Kaʻū Coffee Festival where he was honored by Kaʻū Coffee Growers Cooperative for leadership and development in building Kaʻū Coffee Mill and helping to grow the local coffee industry here.

    According to his family, he died peacefully at home on July 15. He is survived by his wife Sammie Stanbro, three sons, two stepsons, hanai son Troy Keolanui, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
    A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, Aug. 31 at the Palace Theatre in Hilo at 2 p.m.

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