Mike Olson was born in Seattle and grew up in Bellingham, Washington where he graduated from Bellingham High School in 1964. 

In 1966, he joined the United States Army and attained the rank of Chief Warrant Officer.   During the Vietnam War, he was wounded three times and is a decorated combat veteran.  Among his awards are the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm.  In 1986 he was medically retired from active duty due to complications resulting from his combat wounds.

Mike was saved in 1982 through the consistent Christian testimony of his wife, who had trusted Christ three years earlier.  He answered God's call to full-time Christian service in 1986 and moved his family to Jacksonville, Florida to receive training for the ministry.

Brother Mike served as a missionary in Germany from 1992-1996 at Rheinland Baptist Church working among single American servicemen and women stationed at near Ramstein Air Force Base and the surrounding military community.  Hundreds were won to Christ and many completed their training for the ministry and are serving as pastors, missionaries, church staff and Christian educators.        

From 1996 - 2001, Mike served as the Executive Assistant to the President, and Director of Pre-Field Ministries for Baptist Missions to Forgotten Peoples.  He founded the organization's annual Mission Possible Camp program through which hundreds of teenagers have been influenced for world missions.   

Currently, Mike serves as President of Global Partnership Ministries, Inc., which he founded in May 2001.  Focused in the Philippine Islands, the organization specializes in training nationals and planting Baptist churches in rural and mountain villages which have no Bible preaching church.  Through its Village Light Project, several independent Baptist churches have been started and each has a Filipino pastor who received training through this ministry.  In May, 2009 the organization acquired a six-acre camp facility in the Philippines, which is the home of Village Light Ministries International. 

Brother Mike is a 1990 graduate of Trinity Baptist College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Church Ministries.  In 2009, the college honored him with a Doctor of Divinity degree.  He has been serving in missions for twenty-one years. 

His wife, Lynn, is a graduate of Seattle Pacific University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education and has over twenty years of teaching experience in Christian education.  Mike enjoys preaching, golf and high school football.  Lynn is an avid reader, enjoys bird watching, and loves working with children.

Mike and Lynn were married in 1973 in Bellevue, Washington.  They have three sons, Jason, Joshua and Jesse; and six grandchildren.