author
Storrs L. Olson
1944–2021
A leading expert on fossil birds, he spent decades at the Smithsonian and helped reshape how scientists understand extinct island avifaunas. His work is especially remembered for bringing lost bird worlds in places like Hawaii and the Atlantic islands into sharp focus.
1 Audiobook
The cretaceous birds of New Jersey
by Storrs L. Olson, David C. Parris
About the author
Storrs Lovejoy Olson (April 3, 1944 – January 20, 2021) was an American biologist, ornithologist, and paleontologist whose career was closely tied to the Smithsonian Institution, where he served in the Division of Birds and later became curator emeritus.
He was widely recognized as one of the world's foremost avian paleontologists. His research focused on fossil and subfossil birds, especially from islands such as Hawaii, Ascension, and St. Helena, and colleagues remembered him as an unusually productive and influential scientist in systematics, morphology, evolution, biogeography, and nomenclature.
Beyond his formal titles, he is often described as a deeply observant museum-based naturalist and a prolific writer whose work shaped modern understanding of extinct birds and island ecosystems. Accounts from memorial and institutional sources also note the breadth of his scholarship and the strong impression he made on fellow ornithologists and researchers.