Michael Fors Olson

Michael Fors Olson (born June 29, 1966) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Fort Worth in Texas since 2014.

Early life and education
Michael Olson was born on June 29, 1966, in Park Ridge, Illinois, to Ronald G. and Janice (Fetzer) Olson. He was raised in Des Plaines, Illinois, where he attended St. Mary's School. Deciding to become a priest, Olsen entere Quigley Preparatory Seminary North in Chicago. When the Olson family moved to Fort Worth, Texas, Michael Olson resumed his seminary studies there.

After finishing his early studies, Olson traveled to Washington, D.C. to attend the Catholic University of America. He was a awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy there in 1988 and a Master of Arts degree in philosophy in 1989.

Olson returned to Texas in 1989 to attend the University of St. Thomas in Houston. He later received Master of Theology and Master of Divinity degrees from St. Thomas in 1994.

Priesthood
Olson was ordained a priest at St. Patrick Cathedral in Fort Worth by Bishop Joseph Delaney for the Diocese of Fort Worth on June 3, 1994. After his ordination, the diocese assigned Olson as parochial vicar at St. Michael's Parish in Bedford, Texas.

In 1997, Olson traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, for doctoral studies at the Center for Health Care Ethics in the Catholic Tradition at Saint Louis University. He then went to Rome to attend the Alphonsian Academy at the Pontifical Lateran University. Olson was awarded a Doctor of Moral Theology degree from the academy in 2001.

After returning to Texas in 2001, Olson was appointed as formation director at St. Mary's Seminary in Houston. He left St. Mary's in 2006 after Bishop Kevin William Vann appointed Olson as vicar general of the diocese. In 2008, he was transferred to Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving, Texas to serve as its rector. Pope Benedict XVI named Olson as a chaplain of his holiness in 2010.

Bishop of Fort Worth
Pope Francis named Olson as bishop of Fort Worth on November 19, 2013. He was consecrated on January 29, 2014, by Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller. Archbishop Emeritus Fiorenza and Bishop Kevin Vann acted as the co-consecrators. The liturgy was celebrated in the Fort Worth Convention Center.

In 2016, Olson issued a call to action to the city of Fort Worth to regulate predatory payday loan companies to protect the poor and most vulnerable from unregulated loans which can plunge unsuspecting clients into crippling debt.

At the invitation of Bishop Olson, the Cristo Rey network of Catholic college preparatory high schools opened a campus in Fort Worth in 2018. Students at Cristo Rey earn more than half of their tuition by working one day each week at corporate partners, thus providing a private school education to economically disadvantaged students.

On September 20-23, 2018, Bishop Olson and the Diocese of Fort Worth hosted the fifth National Encuentro of Hispanic/Latino Ministry for 3,000 national clergy and lay leaders in Hispanic Ministry.

In April 2023, Olson visited the Most Holy Trinity Monastery in Arlington, Texas, to investigate allegations that Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach had violated her vow of chastity with a priest from another diocese. During the investigation, Gerlach admitted to inappropriate communications with the priest. After the investigation, Gerlach filed civil litigation against Olson, but a judge dismissed the case in June 2023. The Holy See, through the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, issued a Decree appointing Olson as Pontifical Commissary of the Monastery, essentially naming him as the Pope’s representative in the matter. In April 2024, the Dicastery granted the Association of Christ the King in the United States of America, the association of Carmelite monasteries to which the Arlington Carmel belongs, with direct oversight and direct responsibility for governance of the Arlington Carmel. The Arlington Carmel rejected this decree.

Olson is a panel member of American Religious Town Hall and a frequent radio guest on Guadalupe Radio Network and The Catholic Current.