Western Mustangs Sports

Professor Jim Olson has been a faculty member in the Psychology Department at Western for more than 25 years. He teaches and does research in the field of social psychology, focusing on such topics as attitude change and perceived justice. He was Chair of the Psychology Department from 1998 to 2003.

Jim has served as an Academic Advisor for the women’s varsity basketball team since 1996 (together with Professor Craig Simpson of the History Department until 2007).  Jim’s role with the team is to provide academic assistance to players, such as obtaining information about program requirements, arranging tutoring help in courses when players are struggling, and directing players to services that can improve their academic skills.

Jim loves basketball and played it until knee surgery forced him to become exclusively a fan. He and his wife Mary have two daughters, both of whom played competitive basketball in London.