Olsen Still Disc-Struck Attorney

Stafford County Commonwealth’s Attorney Eric Olsen ‘82 has tried hundreds of cases, but this prosecutor also has a flip side. Olsen, who organizes the Virginia State Frisbee Tournament, discovered his passion for tossing a disc when he was a freshman studying sociology at Mary Washington.

Eric Olsen ’82 was no athlete, but the guys doing Frisbee tricks in Ball Circle looked like they were having a fabulous time.

So the Fredericksburg native, who’d been picked last for every sport while growing up, walked out of Madison Hall in the fall of 1978 and joined the party.

“I saw these guys making incredible Frisbee throws, and it was very impressive,” he said. “Then you start throwing, and it’s such a fun thing to do.”

Olsen, 51, hasn’t set down his disc since. Even as the freshly elected Stafford County commonwealth’s attorney, he organized April’s 36th annual Virginia State Frisbee Tournament in Fredericksburg.

The tournament started on the Mary Washington campus while Olsen was still a James Monroe High School student. Today it’s grown into the nation’s largest, attracting more than 150 Frisbee players from around the country to compete at Pratt Park in events that range from accuracy and distance tests to more acrobatic and freestyle performances.

Olsen insists he was never a top competitor, but playing Frisbee was a huge part of his social life in college and remained a great outlet even after he left campus.

After graduating from Mary Washington with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, Olsen earned a law degree at Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law in Alabama. He returned to Fredericksburg to open a private practice.

In 1989, he accepted an assistant commonwealth’s attorney position in Stafford County. He tried more than 250 jury cases throughout the next 22 years in that office before being elected to the top post this fall, replacing Commonwealth’s Attorney Dan Chichester, who retired after 40 years.

A father of three, Olsen, has been a staunch advocate for child abuse victims. Through the National District Attorneys Association, he has trained prosecutors around the country in that area, as well, Chichester said. Olsen was also the first assistant prosecutor in the NDAA’s history to be elected to its board of directors.

“I don’t know that I ever had an assistant bring the passion into a courtroom that he does,” said Chichester. “He’s a man of great passion, great fairness and toughness, and that makes a great prosecutor.”

He also has a great passion for Frisbee, said Chichester, who never embraced the sport himself.

“Every year, he has this silly Frisbee tournament, throwing a damn disc. I never could throw the damn thing myself,” said Chichester, laughing. “To each his own, I guess.”

This year marked the 28th time Olsen organized the state tournament. He first did it as a college senior while president of Mary Washington’s Frisbee club. When he returned from law school, the club handed off the responsibility to him, and he has kept it ever since.

He still enjoys competing, but the best part is reconnecting with old friends and meeting fresh Frisbee enthusiasts, Olsen said.

“It’s such a blast,” he said of the tournament. “Frisbee people are the nicest people you’ll ever meet.”