harles Edward Olson was born in Kalmar, Sweden in 1878. At the age of nineteen he immigrated to the United States and immediately enlisted in the Revenue Cutter Service, which was the forerunner of the United States Coast Guard. He served aboard the cutter Manning in Alaska, and after a four-year hitch he joined the gold stampede to Nome in 1901. He mined around Nome for some time and then moved on to the gold strike in the Iditarod in 1910.

When visiting Chicago in 1911, Charley met Matilda Karlson. She was born in Orebro, Sweden in 1881 and came to the United States with her parents in 1900. By the time of their meeting, Charley was a successful miner in the Takotna mining district and held several claims on the well-known Ganes Creek. In 1912 he sent for Matilda, and they were married in Takotna the same year.

They continued to mine on Ganes Creek until 1919 when Charley, suffering with arthritis, could no longer work in the placer operations. After their arrival in Anchorage, Matilda opened a small cafeteria to serve the workers in the rail yards. They also maintained a large garden at their Anchorage home and raised fresh produce, selling it to the local stores.

Charley and Matilda Olson had one daughter, Ruby, born in 1913. She and Raymond Mathews were married in Fairbanks. They had two daughters, Jane Ruby Mathews Swain and Shirley Ann. Charley died in 1932, and Matilda died in 1965, and both are buried in the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery.