By Tom Mix
NDHSAA Media Specialist

VALLEY CITY, N.D. – Todd Olson, Director of Student Activities for Fargo Public Schools, has been named President-Elect of the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) in 2018.

Olson’s appointment as President-Elect was announced Tuesday, December 12 at the Phoenix Convention Center during the 48th annual National Athletic Directors Conference hosted jointly by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and the NIAAA.

Beginning January 1, 2019, Olson will serve as the 40th NIAAA President and will be the first ever athletic administrator from North Dakota to hold the position.

The NIAAA preserves, enhances and promotes educational-based athletics through the professional development of interscholastic athletic administrators. The NIAAA has more than 10,000 members and provided more than 40 different leadership courses for athletic directors, as well as four separate levels of professional certification.

For nearly three decades, Todd Olson, CMAA, has helped educate and lead student-athletes in North Dakota. Olson began his education career in 1991 as a math teacher and boys basketball coach at Grand Forks (North Dakota) Central High School. During his 14 years as a coach, he was named the state’s Class A Boys Basketball Coach of the Year in 1995, and the Associated Press Male Sport Coach of the Year in 1996, the same year he led Central to the Class A state championship.

In 2005, Olson was named athletic director for Grand Forks Public Schools overseeing the athletic program of two high schools and four middle schools. During his seven years in that position, he oversaw a $2 million upgrade to the school system’s field and track, and was named Class A Administrator of the Year for the 2009-10 school year.

Since 2012, Olson has worked as the Director of Student Activities of Fargo Public Schools, where he is responsible for the activities programs at three high schools and three middle schools with more than 11,000 students and 300 coaches.

Olson is active in the North Dakota Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NDIAAA), having served on the NDIAAA Board of Directors since 2007. His time on the board includes a term as president in 2010-11. Additionally, Olson currently serves as the NDIAAA Spring Conference chair and is on the state’s Leadership Training Institute faculty.

Olson is equally involved with the North Dakota High School Activities Association (NDHSAA). From 2010 to 2014, he served on the NDHSAA Board of Directors, culminating with a term as president in 2013-14. From 2011 to 2013, Olson was chair of the NDHSAA Football Committee and since 2005, has served on the association’s Tournament Manager’s Committee. During his time as an athletic administrator in North Dakota, Olson has served as manager of numerous region and state tournaments.

Nationally, Olson began a term on the NIAAA Board of Directors in 2015, and served on the NIAAA Certification Committee from 2011 to 2014 and the NFHS Coaches Education Committee from 2010 to 2012. In 2013, Olson earned the NIAAA Distinguished Service Award. In 2016, Olson was the recipient of the NFHS Citation for contributions to interscholastic athletics at the local, state and national levels.

Olson earned his bachelor’s degree from Mayville State (North Dakota) University in 1991 and his master’s degree in education administration from the University of North Dakota in 1998.

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