Jackie Olson
Jackie Olson grew up in Dawson, a member of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation (TH). She studied accounting and finance at Yukon College, attended the Fine Arts Foundation Program at Camosun College, and has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Alberta College of Art and Design.1)
Olson is an abstract impressionist artist whose works have been exhibited internationally.2) She uses found and natural objects in her art, and is a master willow weaver. In 2017 a group of arts including Bo Yeung, Chris Clarke, Sue Parsons, and Jackie Olson worked on the Weaving Voices project to reflect on TH’s relationship with the settler community for Canada’s 150th Anniversary. The willow structures provide safe places to sit, listen and reflect.3)
Between 1992 and 2000, Olson was the program and finance director of the Dawson Women’s Shelter. Between 2004 and 2010 she was the senior finance officer with the City of Dawson. Between 2010 and June 2013 she was the heritage director for Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, and from July 2013 to 2016 she was Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in’s executive director. Her consulting business advises on community development, heritage and culture.4) In 2017 Olson became the executive director of the Klondike Visitors Association.