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He has written and directed a number of short films and feature documentaries which have premiered at film festivals such as Tribeca Film Festival and Telluride Film Festival. Most of his films address major science issues such as the decline of the world's oceans, the controversy around the teaching of evolution versus intelligent design, and the attacks on global warming science.
Olson received a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from Harvard University in 1984. His dissertation research took him to Australia in the early 1980s studying coral reef ecology on the Great Barrier Reef. While conducting his research, he spent an entire year living on Lizard Island on the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef.
In Townsville, Australia, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Australian Institute of Marine Science. He worked for the Australian government studying the problem of the crown-of-thorns starfish and its destructive effect on the Great Barrier Reef.
In 1988 Olson was appointed a professor in the Zoology Department at the University of New Hampshire. His research on the dispersal of larvae of marine organisms on coral reefs has been described as "some of the best work in that field". During his time at UNH Olson also produced several short films on marine life, such as Barnacles Tell No Lies, Lobstahs, and Salt of the Earth. Salt of the Earth was shown on a local PBS station. After being awarded tenure in 1994, Olson took a leave of absence to attend film school, eventually resigning his scientific position.
In 2002, Olson and coral reef ecologist Jeremy Jackson of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, created a 7-minute short film, Rediagnosing the Oceans. Olson expanded this work with the Shifting Baselines Ocean Media Project.
Olson directed the feature documentary, Flock of Dodos, which premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. The film focused on the “ongoing debate between evolutionary biologists and those who espouse intelligent design.”
In 2008 Olson wrote and directed the mockumentary feature film, Sizzle, which “confronts global warming with humor.”
Olson partnered in 2019 with surf photographer Brian Bielmann and filmmaker Brent Storm to help produce the documentary feature White Rhino. The film documents the three massive swells that hit Fiji and Tahiti in 2011–12.
Olson has been criticized for potentially "dumbing down" serious science issues. His response is that his critics fail to grasp the difference between "dumbing down" and concision.
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