Olsson designs infrastructure, supports patient care areas

The exterior of the April Sampson Cancer Center won’t be the only part of the facility where Olsson, a Lincoln-based engineering firm, makes an impact. Outside the building, Olsson is the engineering designer, managing key infrastructure like drainage, traffic flow, parking, roadways and accessibility. Inside, through the firm’s gift to fund an infusion bay, Olsson is a generous donor.

“An infusion bay is a place where folks spend a lot of time thinking and contemplating,” says John Olsson, the firm’s executive vice president of consulting services and son of founder John E. Olsson. “They are there for an extended period of time, and we wanted to contribute to a positive element of that experience. Your heart goes out to those who are there. You want them to feel good while they’re in that space.”

For Olsson (the executive) and Olsson (the company), the motivation to donate has personal and professional roots. Olsson’s brother, Bud, died of pancreatic cancer in 2022. Among the firm’s roughly 1,850 employees (about 350 of whom are based in Lincoln), “a number of them have battled cancer and won, a smaller number have lost, and a number are battling with it right now,” Olsson says. “It exists in the workplace, and it affects lives deeply.”

On a corporate level, the company’s five-member executive team saw the opportunity to support two fellow locally based entities — Bryan Health and Sampson Construction — as a natural philanthropic fit, says Olsson, who’s a Bryan Foundation board member. Olsson’s Executive Vice President of Talent and Organizational Strategy Melissa Newton serves on the board for Bryan College of Health Sciences.

The cancer center is named after April Sampson, who co-owned Sampson Construction with her husband, John, before she died of breast cancer in 2016. “The ties to the Sampson family, that was not lost on us,” Olsson says. “Sampson Construction was founded a few years earlier than Olsson, but the way they want to grow their company and serve their customers is really similar to ours. When their name goes on something, you want to get behind it.”

In their respective spheres, Olsson, Bryan Health and Sampson Construction work in tandem to help make Lincoln a stronger community, Olsson says. “Bryan does infrastructure in a way that complements what we do in bricks and mortar. Bryan improves quality of life through health care.” n

To learn how you can support the April Sampson Cancer Center, call 402-481-8605.