BIOGRAPHY
A rare mix of cultural and educational dynamic, Pete Olson's
story began with his adoption in Irvine, California when he was less
than a year old. Given the birth name "Roberto", his birth parents
were a twenty year old hispanic construction worker from Mexico,
and an eighteen year old waitress of European descent. Without
the financial means to raise a child, Olson was given up for adoption.
"I have never met my birth parents, but I always have felt blessed
by the opportunities that I wouldn't have had if I wasn't adopted"
says Olson. "Especially with regards to racing, I seriously doubt I
would have had the financial support that was necessary, especially
in the beginning of my racing career. I have always had the best
opportunities in life with the only limits being those I would impose
myself on my growth as an individual."
Graduating from private prep school, Olson participated in various
sports as a teenager, including being Captain of the rifle team his
Junior Year.
"I liked the individualism of riflery, you had a team but in the end, it
was your individual skill that got you the trophy" said Olson. "Its the
same in racing: it takes a team effort, but in the end, with the
right equipment the results come directly down to the driver. Good
or bad results, it comes down to his or her own skill and most of all,
dedication."
Graduating Boston University with an honors degree in International
Relations and hispanic scholar award, Olson continued in Boston
University to receive a Masters in Business Administration - all the
while, pursuing his passion for speed.
During high school, Olson worked part-time evenings at a local
service station despite the demands of schoolwork, picking up basic
auto mechanics skills and spending his weekends working on his first
sportscar, an old VW Scirocco. Soon it was tuned with nitrous and
every conceivable speed bolt-on. "I used to street race every
chance I got, and in the end I would say I am lucky I didn't hurt
myself or anyone else. As I learned later, it takes far more skill to
drive on the track then to simply drop the hammer on the street"
said Olson.
While living at Boston University, Olson attended Motorcycle Road
Racing School at New Hampshire International Speedway in 1998,
receiving a regional racing license and participating in several races,
placing 3rd in his very first race, on a 500cc SuperSport Ninja. "At
the time I was really into sportbikes, had a Yamaha R6 among
others, and seriously considered pursuing a career in motorcycle
road racing. My instructor, a national superbike champion, told me I
'had some real skills', and the thrill aspect of racing bikes definitely
outweighed any fear factor for me. But I had always had the dream
of becoming a professional formula car race driver, that was where
my true goals were: the Indy 500 that I watched every year since I
was a kid."
So with the obsessive work ethic that had helped him through his
educational achievements in Boston, Olson took to his dream with a
single-minded drive. Soon he was spending every weekend karting,
later working full-time in finance for several years to fund his dream.
"My parents, especially my father, were an invaluable help to me"
says Olson. "But they instilled the idea in me that you can't have
things handed to you, and it was the same with their support of
my racing. I did receive essential support from them, but they
made it clear that if I was to succeed, I would have to make a
success of myself, and not rely on them for support. In fact, I will
never forget an email my father had sent to a friend telling him
how well I was doing in my racing 'avocation' - in other words,
'hobby'. I reread that email many times, knowing in my heart that I
would show him what I could accomplish in racing - and several
years later, he was watching me drive in Canada, as a sponsored
driver for Bridgestone in F2000 racing. That was a very special day
for me, and certainly for him as well."
After years of broken bones and bruises racing everything from BMX
to sailboats and later, street racing in nitrous-injected sportscars,
Olson had graduated to motorcycle racing then professional karting,
with the next and final step being formula car racing.
In 2003, Olson attended his first formula car racing school at Jim
Russell USA at Infineon Raceway near San Francisco on a karting
scholarship award. Moving on to do race weekends in the Skip
Barber Western Regional Series, after good results Olson ultimately
distinguished himself in the highly-competitive Bridgestone F2000
MTP Championship in 2007, when he attended the Bridgestone
Racing Academy at Mosport International Raceway in Ontario,
Canada to work as a race mechanic in exchange for 'seat time' in
order to continue funding his racing career.
"Even with working in finance full-time prior to 2007, it was hard to
afford much formula car racing. I could only do races here and
there" says Olson. "But one thing that it taught me was the value
of the driving: I was working all week day in and day out doing
something I didn't enjoy, in order to fund my real passion - racing.
And so when I would get in the car, I maximized every minute of
it. I didn't think it was anything unusual to watch a track video 50
times and take 5 pages of notes before going to a new track- I
couldn't understand why everyone else wasn't doing it. Then in
the fall of 2006 I learned about the Bridgestone Racing Academy
MTP program: I could work as a race mechanic for a season in
exchange for seat time, and thus afford to finally do my first full
formula car championship. I went into it flat out, so to speak,
because for me it was an incredible opportunity, one in which I
could finally show what I was made of."
Olson took to the MTP program with a passion, waking up at 6am
every morning to go to the gym before working on race cars for
the rest of the day, with many 50 to 60 hour weeks during the 8
month season. Despite the challenges, Olson dominated the 2007
MTP F2000 race series with four wins, two 2nds, one 3rd, and five
pole positions in the seven race series. "My only regret is that I feel
that I should have won every race, and to this day the minor
mistakes that cost me those three victories in my first formula
championship still bother me, even though I was still on the podium
for all the races. But I suppose that is what being competitive is all
about."
Thanks to Olson's obvious enthusiasm and work ethic in the 2007
MTP program, he was invited back as a salaried '2nd year' MTP for
the 2008 season. In addition, he received the all-important
Bridgestone Racing Academy sponsorship for the 2008 F2000
Championship, thanks to clinching the 2007 MTP F2000 Series.
Olson went on to win the 2008 series, but as the sponsored
champion driver is only eligible to receive a single season's 'ride',
Olson was no longer funded by Bridgestone at the end of 2008.
By the fall of 2008, the economy had completely downturned, and
Olson was without a ride, or even motorsport employment
prospects, for 2009. "It was a horrible time for me, at the end of
the 2008 season" said Olson. "Most of my savings had gone down
significantly in the stock market, and after the accomplishments of
the previous two years, suddenly it was looking like I was going to
have to give up everything - and I couldn't stand the thought of
that. I had given up a lucrative job in 2006 in order to PAY to work
my way into professional motorsports. I had lived overseas, given
up relationships, family, spent a small fortune of my own
hard-earned money, and worked incredibly hard to accomplish
everything I could with what means I had. And suddenly it seemed
like it all wasn't enough, like it was all going to come to a crashing
halt despite all the effort I had put into it. Then suddenly,
everything changed the very last night at Bridgestone, Halloween
night Oct 31, 2008."
"I had spent a couple of years working in finance in Taipei, Taiwan
before coming to Canada for Bridgestone's MTP program in
February 2007. In Taipei I was working in Capital Securities, the
largest brokerage house in Taiwan, and spending every weekend at
the kart track, as I was racing in the Taiwan Rotax Max National
Championship at the time. While I was living in Taiwan in 2004, I
had flown down to Zhuhai, China, to do some testing and a couple
of race weekends in Formula Renault [once again all I could afford
at the time]. I had raced in a team called FRD Motorsports."
"So at the end of the Bridgestone season in 2008, I was
contacting FRD about racing and coaching, along with Skip Barber,
Jim Russell, and a bunch of other formula race outfits in the States-
and I was getting nowhere. So its the last night of Bridgestone
MTP 2008 up in Ontario, Halloween night, everyone was packing
up the apartments and finishing off the beer, and in the middle of
the night I decided to call FRD in Hong Kong one last time - and I
finally got through to the owner [who I had met in 2004 when I'd
raced in FRD in Formula Renault]. We had a brief talk and he told
me to pack my bags and come to Hong Kong by December 1st.
There was no formal hiring - it was just 'yeah come on out and let's
talk'. It sounded promising from what little conversation we had
about my coaching and racing prospects - but there was no formal
agreement. So with Bridgestone finished on November 1, 2008, I
drove back to the States and spent the next few weeks packing
up to move to Asia. I had no idea what would happen, but I had
no real alternative, and told everyone [including my parents] that I
had a job secured as an instructor for FRD Motorsports, and that I
was moving to Zhuhai."
"So December 1, 2008 after 24 hours of travel I was in the FRD
office in Hong Kong, half dazed and much to my relief, signing a
year's contract as the Chief Instructor for FRD Motorsports. A week
later I was coaching a Formula Renault class of 15 drivers at the
Zhuhai International Circuit. And a week after that I was behind
the wheel of a quarter million dollar, 425hp Ferrari 360 doing
testing - and I think that's when it finally hit me: 'Here I am,
halfway around the world, getting paid to test a quarter million
dollar race car'. Funny sidebar is that as soon as I got used to the
car that first test day, despite having never driven a 425hp Ferrari
360, I decided to drop the hammer- and almost put it into the wall
in Turn 4. I slid off the track into the grass [too heavy on the
throttle] and careened to a stop about 3 feet from the concrete
wall. First day in the Ferrari, 2nd week in FRD. That would have
ended things real quick."
"As Chief Instructor for the team, I was given the opportunity for
discounted Formula Renault racing and testing. And thanks to my
savings that the market crash hadn't gotten, and generous help
from my father and Aunt Deborah Callard, I was able to join Asia
Formula Renault for the 2009 season. But I was hampered by a lack
of pre-season testing, because of my financial situation. I did
relatively well in 2009 with the little time I'd had in the Formula
Renault, and ironically, by now I have done so much testing in the
Formula Renault since then, that I am far faster and am one of the
few drivers to brake at over 2.0Gs, which is something few Renault
drivers master with the difficulties of brake modulation with the
aero package on the car. But in 2009, due to funding issues I was
only able to do two Formula Renault weekends - despite my best
efforts at sponsorship, due to the economic situation, despite
several promising prospects, in the end it always came down to 'we
think its a great offer but.." "we would have done it two years ago
but..." and so forth. So I spent the remainder of the season at
least getting regular testing, almost every week in fact. I moved
over to Champ Motorsport as a Formula Renault instructor in 2010,
and actually sealed a lucrative media sponsor deal for the 2010
Formula Renault season - things were looking up once again. I was
talking to prospective corporate sponsors who could leverage the
magazine deal I had secured, when in February of 2010, I had a
motorcycle accident which put me out of the car for half the
season - there went 2010. Since then, it has been simply a
question of finding the right corporate marketing partner. Though
its not easy, I know that with continued hard work and utilizing my
skills off the track on the business side, it is only a matter of time
before great things happen for everyone.
And I should make it clear that I have no regrets - and I don't
believe in second guessing. My parents taught me to be a
self-made man. I have seen many drivers, especially in my work as
an instructor, who have great talent but simply lack the funding to
take it to the top. I have also seen many drivers who are simply
well-funded, normally by family, and race to their heart's content
but lack skill, or do have skill but don't take the sport seriously
enough. Out here we call them 'KTV drivers', which generally refers
to the guys who spend their nights partying in Karaoke, to show
up hungover and play at being boy racer. But to each his own, if
they choose to operate like that, then hey, its their choice what to
do with their money.
But for me, ever since the first time I was on a track, this was
never about just getting in a car and doing something exciting that
most people only dream of - it was always about going all out, to
be professional, to take it all the way. Its what gets me in the gym
on the days where I am exhausted. Its why I'll be doing pushups in
my hotel room when the boys are out drinking. Its the days I spent
in the monsoon in Taiwan in my Rotax, in the cold rain doing a few
hundred laps when no one else showed up. And it was giving up a
lot, in order to pursue The Dream. Few people can say that they
wake up every day and love what they do, and I feel lucky, and
blessed, to have had the opportunities that I've had in my life,
especially with racing. But it certainly wasn't handed to me on a
silver platter, and I never will join the ranks of those who are. In
the end, if someone just handed a million dollars to go race, I
would still be out there looking to do it the proper way:
professionally.
The difference between an amateur and professional racer is
simple: a professional has sponsors who he brings a profitable return
on investment, and a certain level of talent to a team. And that, in
the end, is why he is paid to race. Even in Indy and F1, the top
rungs of the ladder, almost all drivers in every team are there
because of the value that they bring to their sponsors, not
because the team actually pays them to drive. And in the end, I
intend to use my cross-generational, cross-racial,
cross-educational/athletic and multi-national/language dynamic to
bring value to sponsors, and continue to the top, no matter what
it takes. After all, The Journey is half the thrill of achieving Your
Dream.
-Pete Olson, October 16, 2011
A rare mix of cultural and educational dynamic, Pete Olson's
story began with his adoption in Irvine, California when he was less
than a year old. Given the birth name "Roberto", his birth parents
were a twenty year old hispanic construction worker from Mexico,
and an eighteen year old waitress of European descent. Without
the financial means to raise a child, Olson was given up for adoption.
"I have never met my birth parents, but I always have felt blessed
by the opportunities that I wouldn't have had if I wasn't adopted"
says Olson. "Especially with regards to racing, I seriously doubt I
would have had the financial support that was necessary, especially
in the beginning of my racing career. I have always had the best
opportunities in life with the only limits being those I would impose
myself on my growth as an individual."
Graduating from private prep school, Olson participated in various
sports as a teenager, including being Captain of the rifle team his
Junior Year.
"I liked the individualism of riflery, you had a team but in the end, it
was your individual skill that got you the trophy" said Olson. "Its the
same in racing: it takes a team effort, but in the end, with the
right equipment the results come directly down to the driver. Good
or bad results, it comes down to his or her own skill and most of all,
dedication."
Graduating Boston University with an honors degree in International
Relations and hispanic scholar award, Olson continued in Boston
University to receive a Masters in Business Administration - all the
while, pursuing his passion for speed.
During high school, Olson worked part-time evenings at a local
service station despite the demands of schoolwork, picking up basic
auto mechanics skills and spending his weekends working on his first
sportscar, an old VW Scirocco. Soon it was tuned with nitrous and
every conceivable speed bolt-on. "I used to street race every
chance I got, and in the end I would say I am lucky I didn't hurt
myself or anyone else. As I learned later, it takes far more skill to
drive on the track then to simply drop the hammer on the street"
said Olson.
While living at Boston University, Olson attended Motorcycle Road
Racing School at New Hampshire International Speedway in 1998,
receiving a regional racing license and participating in several races,
placing 3rd in his very first race, on a 500cc SuperSport Ninja. "At
the time I was really into sportbikes, had a Yamaha R6 among
others, and seriously considered pursuing a career in motorcycle
road racing. My instructor, a national superbike champion, told me I
'had some real skills', and the thrill aspect of racing bikes definitely
outweighed any fear factor for me. But I had always had the dream
of becoming a professional formula car race driver, that was where
my true goals were: the Indy 500 that I watched every year since I
was a kid."
So with the obsessive work ethic that had helped him through his
educational achievements in Boston, Olson took to his dream with a
single-minded drive. Soon he was spending every weekend karting,
later working full-time in finance for several years to fund his dream.
"My parents, especially my father, were an invaluable help to me"
says Olson. "But they instilled the idea in me that you can't have
things handed to you, and it was the same with their support of
my racing. I did receive essential support from them, but they
made it clear that if I was to succeed, I would have to make a
success of myself, and not rely on them for support. In fact, I will
never forget an email my father had sent to a friend telling him
how well I was doing in my racing 'avocation' - in other words,
'hobby'. I reread that email many times, knowing in my heart that I
would show him what I could accomplish in racing - and several
years later, he was watching me drive in Canada, as a sponsored
driver for Bridgestone in F2000 racing. That was a very special day
for me, and certainly for him as well."
After years of broken bones and bruises racing everything from BMX
to sailboats and later, street racing in nitrous-injected sportscars,
Olson had graduated to motorcycle racing then professional karting,
with the next and final step being formula car racing.
In 2003, Olson attended his first formula car racing school at Jim
Russell USA at Infineon Raceway near San Francisco on a karting
scholarship award. Moving on to do race weekends in the Skip
Barber Western Regional Series, after good results Olson ultimately
distinguished himself in the highly-competitive Bridgestone F2000
MTP Championship in 2007, when he attended the Bridgestone
Racing Academy at Mosport International Raceway in Ontario,
Canada to work as a race mechanic in exchange for 'seat time' in
order to continue funding his racing career.
"Even with working in finance full-time prior to 2007, it was hard to
afford much formula car racing. I could only do races here and
there" says Olson. "But one thing that it taught me was the value
of the driving: I was working all week day in and day out doing
something I didn't enjoy, in order to fund my real passion - racing.
And so when I would get in the car, I maximized every minute of
it. I didn't think it was anything unusual to watch a track video 50
times and take 5 pages of notes before going to a new track- I
couldn't understand why everyone else wasn't doing it. Then in
the fall of 2006 I learned about the Bridgestone Racing Academy
MTP program: I could work as a race mechanic for a season in
exchange for seat time, and thus afford to finally do my first full
formula car championship. I went into it flat out, so to speak,
because for me it was an incredible opportunity, one in which I
could finally show what I was made of."
Olson took to the MTP program with a passion, waking up at 6am
every morning to go to the gym before working on race cars for
the rest of the day, with many 50 to 60 hour weeks during the 8
month season. Despite the challenges, Olson dominated the 2007
MTP F2000 race series with four wins, two 2nds, one 3rd, and five
pole positions in the seven race series. "My only regret is that I feel
that I should have won every race, and to this day the minor
mistakes that cost me those three victories in my first formula
championship still bother me, even though I was still on the podium
for all the races. But I suppose that is what being competitive is all
about."
Thanks to Olson's obvious enthusiasm and work ethic in the 2007
MTP program, he was invited back as a salaried '2nd year' MTP for
the 2008 season. In addition, he received the all-important
Bridgestone Racing Academy sponsorship for the 2008 F2000
Championship, thanks to clinching the 2007 MTP F2000 Series.
Olson went on to win the 2008 series, but as the sponsored
champion driver is only eligible to receive a single season's 'ride',
Olson was no longer funded by Bridgestone at the end of 2008.
By the fall of 2008, the economy had completely downturned, and
Olson was without a ride, or even motorsport employment
prospects, for 2009. "It was a horrible time for me, at the end of
the 2008 season" said Olson. "Most of my savings had gone down
significantly in the stock market, and after the accomplishments of
the previous two years, suddenly it was looking like I was going to
have to give up everything - and I couldn't stand the thought of
that. I had given up a lucrative job in 2006 in order to PAY to work
my way into professional motorsports. I had lived overseas, given
up relationships, family, spent a small fortune of my own
hard-earned money, and worked incredibly hard to accomplish
everything I could with what means I had. And suddenly it seemed
like it all wasn't enough, like it was all going to come to a crashing
halt despite all the effort I had put into it. Then suddenly,
everything changed the very last night at Bridgestone, Halloween
night Oct 31, 2008."
"I had spent a couple of years working in finance in Taipei, Taiwan
before coming to Canada for Bridgestone's MTP program in
February 2007. In Taipei I was working in Capital Securities, the
largest brokerage house in Taiwan, and spending every weekend at
the kart track, as I was racing in the Taiwan Rotax Max National
Championship at the time. While I was living in Taiwan in 2004, I
had flown down to Zhuhai, China, to do some testing and a couple
of race weekends in Formula Renault [once again all I could afford
at the time]. I had raced in a team called FRD Motorsports."
"So at the end of the Bridgestone season in 2008, I was
contacting FRD about racing and coaching, along with Skip Barber,
Jim Russell, and a bunch of other formula race outfits in the States-
and I was getting nowhere. So its the last night of Bridgestone
MTP 2008 up in Ontario, Halloween night, everyone was packing
up the apartments and finishing off the beer, and in the middle of
the night I decided to call FRD in Hong Kong one last time - and I
finally got through to the owner [who I had met in 2004 when I'd
raced in FRD in Formula Renault]. We had a brief talk and he told
me to pack my bags and come to Hong Kong by December 1st.
There was no formal hiring - it was just 'yeah come on out and let's
talk'. It sounded promising from what little conversation we had
about my coaching and racing prospects - but there was no formal
agreement. So with Bridgestone finished on November 1, 2008, I
drove back to the States and spent the next few weeks packing
up to move to Asia. I had no idea what would happen, but I had
no real alternative, and told everyone [including my parents] that I
had a job secured as an instructor for FRD Motorsports, and that I
was moving to Zhuhai."
"So December 1, 2008 after 24 hours of travel I was in the FRD
office in Hong Kong, half dazed and much to my relief, signing a
year's contract as the Chief Instructor for FRD Motorsports. A week
later I was coaching a Formula Renault class of 15 drivers at the
Zhuhai International Circuit. And a week after that I was behind
the wheel of a quarter million dollar, 425hp Ferrari 360 doing
testing - and I think that's when it finally hit me: 'Here I am,
halfway around the world, getting paid to test a quarter million
dollar race car'. Funny sidebar is that as soon as I got used to the
car that first test day, despite having never driven a 425hp Ferrari
360, I decided to drop the hammer- and almost put it into the wall
in Turn 4. I slid off the track into the grass [too heavy on the
throttle] and careened to a stop about 3 feet from the concrete
wall. First day in the Ferrari, 2nd week in FRD. That would have
ended things real quick."
"As Chief Instructor for the team, I was given the opportunity for
discounted Formula Renault racing and testing. And thanks to my
savings that the market crash hadn't gotten, and generous help
from my father and Aunt Deborah Callard, I was able to join Asia
Formula Renault for the 2009 season. But I was hampered by a lack
of pre-season testing, because of my financial situation. I did
relatively well in 2009 with the little time I'd had in the Formula
Renault, and ironically, by now I have done so much testing in the
Formula Renault since then, that I am far faster and am one of the
few drivers to brake at over 2.0Gs, which is something few Renault
drivers master with the difficulties of brake modulation with the
aero package on the car. But in 2009, due to funding issues I was
only able to do two Formula Renault weekends - despite my best
efforts at sponsorship, due to the economic situation, despite
several promising prospects, in the end it always came down to 'we
think its a great offer but.." "we would have done it two years ago
but..." and so forth. So I spent the remainder of the season at
least getting regular testing, almost every week in fact. I moved
over to Champ Motorsport as a Formula Renault instructor in 2010,
and actually sealed a lucrative media sponsor deal for the 2010
Formula Renault season - things were looking up once again. I was
talking to prospective corporate sponsors who could leverage the
magazine deal I had secured, when in February of 2010, I had a
motorcycle accident which put me out of the car for half the
season - there went 2010. Since then, it has been simply a
question of finding the right corporate marketing partner. Though
its not easy, I know that with continued hard work and utilizing my
skills off the track on the business side, it is only a matter of time
before great things happen for everyone.
And I should make it clear that I have no regrets - and I don't
believe in second guessing. My parents taught me to be a
self-made man. I have seen many drivers, especially in my work as
an instructor, who have great talent but simply lack the funding to
take it to the top. I have also seen many drivers who are simply
well-funded, normally by family, and race to their heart's content
but lack skill, or do have skill but don't take the sport seriously
enough. Out here we call them 'KTV drivers', which generally refers
to the guys who spend their nights partying in Karaoke, to show
up hungover and play at being boy racer. But to each his own, if
they choose to operate like that, then hey, its their choice what to
do with their money.
But for me, ever since the first time I was on a track, this was
never about just getting in a car and doing something exciting that
most people only dream of - it was always about going all out, to
be professional, to take it all the way. Its what gets me in the gym
on the days where I am exhausted. Its why I'll be doing pushups in
my hotel room when the boys are out drinking. Its the days I spent
in the monsoon in Taiwan in my Rotax, in the cold rain doing a few
hundred laps when no one else showed up. And it was giving up a
lot, in order to pursue The Dream. Few people can say that they
wake up every day and love what they do, and I feel lucky, and
blessed, to have had the opportunities that I've had in my life,
especially with racing. But it certainly wasn't handed to me on a
silver platter, and I never will join the ranks of those who are. In
the end, if someone just handed a million dollars to go race, I
would still be out there looking to do it the proper way:
professionally.
The difference between an amateur and professional racer is
simple: a professional has sponsors who he brings a profitable return
on investment, and a certain level of talent to a team. And that, in
the end, is why he is paid to race. Even in Indy and F1, the top
rungs of the ladder, almost all drivers in every team are there
because of the value that they bring to their sponsors, not
because the team actually pays them to drive. And in the end, I
intend to use my cross-generational, cross-racial,
cross-educational/athletic and multi-national/language dynamic to
bring value to sponsors, and continue to the top, no matter what
it takes. After all, The Journey is half the thrill of achieving Your
Dream.
-Pete Olson, October 16, 2011