Kenneth Harry Olsen was the co-founder of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). He was born on February 20, 1926 and he died on February 06, 2011. One former employee of DEC wrote: “It is with great regret that I inform you that our beloved CEO Ken Olsen passed away, yesterday in Indiana, with his immediate family all around him. Ken had been in ill health for the last few months and was in Hospice care. Sad time for their family now, but Ken and Aulikki had a wonderful life. It’s sad to know that they both have now passed.”
- Ken Olsen is sitting at the head of the table of DEC’s early board of directors
Ken Olsen was born in Bridgeport, CT. After enlisting in the Navy during World War II, he attended MIT for his undergraduate and graduate degrees. While at MIT, he worked on a team that developed air defense technology and core memory, the precursor to today’s RAM. He married Aulikki Valve in Finland on December 12, 1950.
In 1957, he co-founded DEC with MIT colleague, Harlan Anderson in a refurbished mill in Maynard just outside of Boston. After going to the Small Business Association for a loan, they approached American Research and Development Corporation, an early venture capital firm, which had been founded by Georges Doriot. In exchange for 70% equity, they got the funding they needed to start DEC.
Digital Equipment Corporation was a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s. DEC’s PDP and VAX products were arguably the most popular minicomputers for the scientific and engineering communities during the 1970s and 1980s.
A press release from Gordon College, where Ken Olsen served as a long-time trustee, included this quote from Bill Gates, founder and chairman of Microsoft, in a letter to Gordon College:
“An inventor, scientist, and entrepreneur, Ken Olsen is one of the true pioneers of the computing industry. He was also a major influence in my life and his influence is still important at Microsoft through all the engineers who trained at Digital and have come here to make great software products.”
In 1986 Fortune Magazine named him the “most successful entrepreneur in the history of American business.” He was also inducted into multiple halls of fame including the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame (1990) and the Computer History Museum (1996). He served on the boards of several prestigious organizations including the Computer Science and Engineering Board of the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.; and as a member of the President’s Science Advisory Committee. He was awarded the National Medal of Technology in 1993.
NOTE: The authors of this blog were very involved with the autobiography of DEC’s “missing” co-founder Harlan Anderson. We’d love to read your comments about Ken Olsen and Digital Equipment Corporation.
Here are the links to some of the obituaries for Ken Olsen:
Boston Globe: “Computer Pioneer Ken Olsen Dies“
New York Times: “Ken Olsen, Who Built DEC Into a Power, Dies at 84“
Boston Herald: “Digital co-founder Ken Olsen dies at 84“
Computerworld Blog: “DEC co-founder, Ken Olsen dies at 84“
Mass High Tech News Blog: “Remembering Ken Olsen and some thin ice“
TechCrunch: “What Ken Olsen Meant to Me“
Xconomy San Francisco Blog Post by Gordon Bell: “Remembering Ken Olsen (1926-2011): A Sense of Pride and a Sense of Humor“
Innovation Economy: “DEC co-founder Ken Olsen: Obituaries, reminiscences, and video“
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I ‘m honored to be a DEC’ie, almost 8 wonderful years. I worked at several facilities in the West and back East. I met Ken in Phoenix. He was a very gracious man who ran an exciting company that, unlike most companies today, took great care of employees. He and those he trained under him, quickly gained loyalty and trust from all employees. Quid pro quo was ingrained at DEC. He took care of us well and we worked hard to take good care of him and DEC plus another 25% or more.
I’m so honored to have worked under him and will always try to live up to his standard.
To this day, groups of DEC’ies, have local reunions. Name another Company that has that following years later.
God bless Ken and Alliki, Harlan, and their families. This is a sad day for all DEC’ies, but also a time to rejoice and celebrate his wonderful life! Long live Ken, Alliki, and Harlan! Thank you for a fantastic career!
Best,
Scotty
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Computerworld, Richard Stiennon, Mitch Betts, Luis Silva, José Rafael Pino and others. José Rafael Pino said: RT @Computerworld: RT @mitchbetts: Ken Olsen, co-founder of Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC), died Feb. 6. http://bit.ly/fuxc1X @HighTechHi … [...]
The 13 years I spent working at Digital Equipment Corp. were the best era of my career to date. Ken was a great man, a true genius, and one whose vision of what we now call “cloud computing” was dead-on and decades ahead of his time. Ken, you’re in good hands now.
As a former Decie, I am honored to have worked for the company the Mr. Ken Olsen started and will always be greatfull for the opportunities.
I spent 23 great years of my career at digital (1969 – 1992) working in the Mill and in CXO. I had the pleasure of meeting Ken and talking with him a few times while working on weekends in the Mill when he would come wandering around to see what people were doing. I have worked at four other companies after SERPing in 1992 and none of them was quite as rewarding to work for as digital.
Thank you Ken Olsen for creating a company where it was both fun and challenging to work.
I was a DECie for 14 years, in a few places in the Southwest where we STILL have reunrions on a fairly regular basis. And yes, people STILL say it was the best place to work…for many, many reasons – but it all adds up to the work culture that Ken Olsen created, one in which is sadly missing in many workplaces today.
Susan
I joined DEC in 1978 and learned everything I know about IT there. Worked with some great people and made some life long friends. Ken Olsen was a great man who’s beliefs inspired a feeling of family throughout the company.
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Best years of my career were at the DEC Customer Support Center in Colorado Springs. DEC was a great company with a big heart. We knew what it was to build true relationships with our customers, some who became lasting friends.
Ken Olsen was someone I admired and respected. As someone else mentioned, he took care of his people. He took the time to visit the support center, it meant a lot to us.
Can’t wait for our DEC reunion in April, a real tribute to Ken.
[...] Ken Olsen, Co-Founder of Digital Equipment Corporation Dies High …: Ken Olsen, co-founder of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) died on February 6, 2011. – Readmore [...]
Ken’s contributions are the stuff legends are made of. His place in the history books is assured.
I was proud and honored to be a part of his company for a decade, and it shaped and channeled my career offering an unprecedented education, while having an absolute blast working there.
Godspeed on your next journey!
Pete Gruber
14 great years with DEC Colorado Springs. This company new how to take care of its employees under Ken Olsen.
I will never forget.
DEC wasn’t a company, it was a family, a precept, as anyone soon realized when they had the good fortune to meet KO. I joined DEC in 1977 at the Mill in Maynard. Yes, I was a Mill Rat, initially working with the Bliss Compiler engineering group on 3-5 when I first met him. Sure, he was the president and CEO but to everyone, he was our patriarch, endowing his entrepreneural spirit throughout the company. This is what made DEC so great to work for.
God speed old friend. Although you will not longer be with us, you will live in our hearts and minds forever. I thank you for a glorious twenty five years with DEC.
I was lucky enough to meet Ken on my seventh day at Digital in Westminster in Feb of 73. Being new hires working on Sunday. We had no idea who “KO” was when he came over and asked us what we were doing. One of the Line Supers came over after he left and informed us that we had just met the Founder. Like many of you I could have spent my entire life with DEC. I guess 28 years was a good stretch that ended to early. Thanks Robby Bob!!
I worked for DEC for 27 years. I started when the company had about 200 employees. The first day that I worked there, this big guy in a red and black flannel shirt came by. He plopped down on a stool by my drafting board and started a conversation. I liked him immediately. Only later did I find out that it was Ken. In later years I got to make monthly presentations to the engineering committee and Ken always made it a pleasant experience. At my 25th anniversary with DEC I had the priviledge and pleasure, with a few other people to sit at the same table as Ken and his lovely wife. Ken was and still is my hero.
May God bless and enfold you Ken!
My first assignment at DEC was a financial review of the PDP and I eventually moved to the DEC Rainbow. I feel a sense of a significant lose to the world as two great pioneers of technology, Ken Olson and Ed Roberts (Altair computers) have left us.
The “Mill” was a great place and walk through architectural history. Thanks Ken for making the world a better place.
[...] Olsen, co-founder and CEO of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), died at the age of 84. As the obituaries are published, DEC is remembered as what was once the second-largest computer company in the [...]
The 14 plus years spent with DEC remain the most amazing learning/career experience every, my life was changed forever because i got to be a DECie. I met “Ken” on several occasions in Albuquerque and in Maynard. He was always an inspiration as an authentic, intellegent and humble human who regarded his status with nonchalance. i was lucky enough to get his signature in our guest book as one of his visits coincided with the opening of the first computer based learning center in Manufacturing…via con Dios Ken con brazos.
Ken you would not have known me but I knew of you.
The opportunities you created for many, many people like me allowed us to put back in much of what we took out of DEC.
Thank you
RIP
My wife (Donna – Marketing Communications 21 yrs) and I (David – Engineering 20 yrs) both had the pleasure of meeting Ken, which is amazing since there were over a hundred thousand employees at the time. We both met him, as he wondered through the organization collecting the worker’s perspective and asking about our projects/programs. Over the years, we had several interesting conversations with him! It was great motivation to talk with the founder in a 1-on-1 setting. We learned to “do it right” and “paid it forward ” for the remainder of our careers.
It is amazing that the corporate culture was so strong that it still binds the DECies together decades later!
Digital was big family that stretched many countries. I enjoyed 18 years in Digital’s Field Service UK and no other company I have worked since comes even close.
Thank you Ken and Digital for my opportunity.
I worked for DEC for 14 years ( 1984- 1998 )in the Netherlands , Belgium , USA and Switserland .
I left after the merger with Compaq but up till today, I still have contact with many of my finance DEC collegues I worked with ( particular with the Netherlands finance crew for which I was their CFO leader for a few years and had the pleasure to digest the Philips computer division acquisition and do all the hard integration work in the DEC organization.
If I see all my collegues further career , I fully realize what a strong team we had.
In the best years when we closed the financial year books we were looking what expenses we could book in order not to overachieve a net operating profilt above 20% !!!.
Jan Blanckaert
I remember visits from Ken during my 10 senior management years at DEC from 83 to 93. Notable was his dedication to walk the office floors and take his time to talk to as many employees as he could. Truly a great person. As soon as he was replaced, the company started it’s decline. He will always be remembered.
Bruno Michel
R.I.P. Ken! After all these years, I still believe DEC was the best company to work for! They educated you whenever possible in new technologies, treated their employees exceptionally well, and there was such a thing as “job security” back then! What a great man. He will be missed!
DEC was my first employer and I worked 9 years for this wonderful company. Although I didn’t realise back then but DEC gave me so much, not only in knowledge and experience but also to appreciate the values which I thought was normal. When I met collegues from other countries the basic company values was experienced. Only later I realised that Ken Olson was the source of these fine values.
So many companies today from wat this man has realized. Even today, 20 year after I left the company I visit reunions and love to meet the “old” DECies again!
R.I.P. Ken
I never had the pleasure of meeting Ken.
After 16+ years at the Albuquerque plant, and then the unfortunate closure, I have many memories.
DEC seemed to refuse current and evolving trends in computing at times that were crucial to market survival. I believe that Ken once said something like, “No one would ever want a computer in their home.” This attitude put big brakes on DEC’s continuing market success.
When the PC emergence gained speed (Yes, in our homes!), DEC scrambled far too late to join the party.
This all does not take anything away from a man who will always have a very solid place in computer history.
PWCB
[...] Digital’s decline, many former employees remember Olsen fondly. As one former DEC employee told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette in a recent article on [...]
Never worked for DEC as an employee, however, purchased and sold for over 25 years. Remember when the phone was answered occasionally by Ken. His leadership will remain for decades because he was very good at what he did.
I regret the loss of one so motivating and also the loss of the company he created.
Denny
[...] Digital’s decline, many former employees remember Olsen fondly. As one former DEC employee told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette in a recent article on [...]
I was a customer, programming on PDP 11′s and VAX’s and finally Alpha’s from about 1979 to 1998. I still appreciate the quality of the engineering and the amazing ability of the equipment. I can well remember a test I did comparing an early Alpha, costing all told well under $100k, against a Sun system with servers and workstations (costing a quarter of a million) on a software system needing huge amounts of IO, memory and calculations. The Alpha ran rings around the Sun setup. And was far easier to use and manage.
I will always remember the work of Ken and the dedicated engineers at DEC! I’ll remember PDP 11′s that went out in a power failure and as soon as power came back on just rebooted and came up on their own while IBM systems in the same data center needed days of repairs by IBM engineers to get back up. I’ll remember the VT terminals and how much easier they were to use then the huge IBM clunkers. And I’ll remember how a little understanding of how computers worked went such a long way with PDP’s and VAX’s. Mind you, they hadn’t a clue sometimes how to market computers, but man, the systems were great!
I enthusiastically worked over 10 years with Digital in Albuquerque and in MA. Ken Olsen was a great inventor and a great man. He ensured that opportunities were limitless for those who were motivated and willing to work. It was a pleasure and an honor to work for such a fine company.