Harold G. Olsen (May 12, 1895 – October 29, 1953) was a college men's basketball coach. The Rice Lake, Wisconsin native was the head coach of the Ohio State University from 1922 to 1946. That year, he became the first head coach of the BAA's Chicago Stags, where he coached almost three seasons before being replaced by Philip Brownstein. Olsen also coached at Northwestern University (1950–1952). While playing at University of Wisconsin–Madison (1914–1917), Olsen was named two-time All-Big Ten. After graduating from Wisconsin, he began his coaching career at Bradley University and Ripon College. In 1922 Olsen followed George Trautman as head coach of the Ohio State University. In 24 years he guided the Buckeyes to a 259–197 record, as well as five Big Ten championships (1925, 1933, 1939, 1944, 1946). In 1939, Olsen spearheaded efforts to create the NCAA postseason national playoffs, now known as the NCAA tournament. Olsen also helped initiate the 10-second rule. In 1959, he was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor. Head coaching record College football College basketball Professional basketball |- | style="text-align:left;"|CHS | style="text-align:left;"| |61||39||22||.639|| style="text-align:center;"|1st in Western||11||5||6||.455 | style="text-align:center;"|Lost in BAA Finals |- | style="text-align:left;"|CHS | style="text-align:left;"| |48||28||20||.583|| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Western||5||2||3||.400 | style="text-align:center;"|Lost in BAA Semifinals |- | style="text-align:left;"|CHS | style="text-align:left;"| |49||28||21||.571|| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Western||2||0||2||.000 | style="text-align:center;"|Lost in BAA Div. Semifinals |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;"|Career | ||158||95||63||.601|| ||18||7||11||.389 See also List of NCAA Division I Men's Final Four appearances by coach References External links 1895 births 1953 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Wisconsin Basketball players from Wisconsin Bradley Braves baseball coaches Bradley Braves men's basketball coaches Chicago Stags coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball coaches Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball coaches People from Rice Lake, Wisconsin Ripon Red Hawks athletic directors Ripon Red Hawks football coaches Ripon Red Hawks men's basketball coaches Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball players