Gary Olson.

• Position: In memoriam

Gary Olson had a gift for numbers.

Whether it was how many strokes he took on the golf course (he counted every one) or the bottom line on state revenues, Gary's numbers had integrity. He was a nuts and bolts, business kind of guy who didn't believe in spin. So during Michigan's toughest economic period, during a recession that started in 2001 and continued through the decade, Gary Olson was just the kind of guy the state needed.

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For 20 years, Gary directed one of the most respected and influential fiscal agencies in the nation. He never shied away from presenting tough policy options to balance a budget requiring cuts up to $1 billion a year for several years. His credibility gained the trust of Republicans and Democrats.

"When Michigan struggled through unquestionably tough economic times, Gary Olson was a guiding light. His forecasts, foundation of the state's economic picture, were rock solid," said former state treasurer Doug Roberts, who preceded Gary as director of the Senate Fiscal Agency.

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The Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference was one of Gary's proudest initiatives. He met with the House fiscal agency director and the state treasurer twice a year for 20 years, during some of the state's darkest hours, to agree on how much revenue it would take in so they could develop budgets with no--or at least few--surprises. Two Senate majority leaders who worked with Gary during the most difficult economic times--Ken Sikkema and Mike Bishop--said they couldn't have done it without him. It was a time Gary made some of the largest contributions of his career to the state.

He used his gift for numbers to make the most complex fiscal issues understandable. John Lindstrom, publisher of the Michigan Gongwer News Service, wrote that reporters said it was Gary "who made the sometimes bewildering world of public finance clear to them. Or at least more clear."

Former Michigan Governor John Engler, who served as Senate majority leader in the 1980s, said, "Gary Olson's job in Michigan required him to be a budget expert who could speak honestly about what the data revealed. His integrity, candor and humility made him both successful and much-admired by all who knew him." Gary's reputation as an outstanding economist and a man of unquestioned integrity earned him a well-deserved place on the national stage. He served as president of the National Association of Legislative Fiscal Offices and was a former...