From Vision to Reality: A Timeline of Dr. Olson's Leadership

1970-1978

Randall J Olson completes his undergraduate degree in medical biology from the University of Utah. In 1973, Olson earns his medical degree from the U. He then completes an intern year at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, New York.

After finishing his residency at the University of California Los Angeles Jules Stein Eye Institute, Olson completes a cornea fellowship at the University of Florida in Gainesville and at the International Eye Foundation in Honduras.

Olson completes a cornea fellowship at Louisiana State University Eye Center in New Orleans in 1978 and then joins its faculty directing corneal services.

1979-1983

Olson returns to Utah as the sole physician in the University of Utah’s Division of Ophthalmology in the Department of Surgery.

Olson earns the division departmental status in 1982. He also co-founds the Center for Intraocular Lens Research, now the Intermountain Ocular Research Center, to study the new technology of intraocular lenses, which replace the eye’s natural lens during cataract surgery.

A year later, Olson is named chair of the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences.

1991-1992

Under Olson’s leadership, Moran establishes its Patient Support Program for people experiencing vision loss.

He also supports Alan S. Crandall, MD, in creating Moran’s earliest donor-funded outreach program, with the goal of eliminating preventable blindness worldwide.

1993

Olson partners with philanthropist John Moran (pictured below at left) to build the original 85,000-square-foot John A. Moran Eye Center. The building opens thanks to additional gifts from patients, friends, donors, and organizations. The center houses operating rooms, triage, a pharmacy, and the Utah Lions Eye Bank.

1998-2002

Recognizing the growing demand for eye care in the Salt Lake Valley, Olson opens the Moran Eye Center’s first community clinic.

He also expands patient services with a new retina clinic and refractive surgery laser suite as well as an optical shop at the University of Utah campus.

2006

After raising $54 million, including additional funding from John A. Moran, Olson leads design and construction of a new 210,000-square-foot eye center. The building consists of a research tower and clinical care pavilion joined by glass bridges that literally and symbolically connect research laboratories to patient care.

2009-2011

Frustrated with telling age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients there was nothing he could do to prevent them from going blind, Olson recruits Gregory S. Hageman, PhD (pictured below at right), to head Moran’s new Center for Translational Medicine. It is later renamed the Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine (SCTM) in honor of Steele's generous pledge of support. The Center is dedicated to finding the cause and cure for AMD.

In 2011, researcher Robert Marc, PhD, dreams of using electron microscopy to map the circuitry of the retina. At the time, technology did not exist to store the vast amount of data required. Trusting Marc, who told him the technology would catch up with the project, Olson funds the research, and Marc publishes the first map of the retina, known as a connectome.

2022-2025

Olson establishes the Alan S. Crandall Center for Glaucoma Innovation, named in honor of the late Crandall, and recruits Iqbal Ike K. Ahmed, MD, FRCSC, to head it. (Both pictured below in 2017.)

Human testing in an FDA-approved clinical trial begins for a gene therapy the SCTM has developed for AMD.

As Olson announces his retirement, ophthalmology at the University of Utah has grown into a globally recognized center that employs more than 600 people. Clinical and academic programs feature more than 50 specialists, 11 clinics, more than 20 research labs and centers, and the largest outreach program of its kind.

Olson’s work in building one of the premier eye hospitals in the country is recognized by U.S. News & World Report when it ranks Moran No. 10 nationwide in its annual survey. Doximity.com ranks Moran’s residency program No. 6 nationwide and No. 1 in the West.