Bryce Olson, 53

Bryce Olson, 53, caught his “final wave” in Portland, Oregon on July 13, 2023, surrounded by a small group of family and friends following a long and inspiring journey with cancer.

He was born in South Dakota on Jan. 12, 1970, to Steve and Elaine Olson.

He moved to Kalispell in 1978, where he attended school, graduating from Flathead High School in 1988.

He studied International Business at the University of Portland, including time abroad in Osaka, Japan.

While in his freshman year, he had his eye on a young lady in his Introduction to Atmosphere course. He took a leap of faith, sending her a Valentine's Day card to introduce himself.

This was the beginning of a lifelong friendship with Midori Karasawa and following graduation in 1992, Bryce and Midori married.

They spent the next four years living and working in Tokyo, Japan.

He read, wrote and spoke fluently in Japanese and continued to enjoy the food, culture and the language after they returned to the states.

They spent time in San Francisco before moving to Portland, Oregon.

It was in 1997 that Bryce began his career at Intel.

In 2000, he transferred to London and spent a year working and traveling in Europe. Bryce was global minded and loved immersing himself in other cultures.

He returned to Portland and remained working at Intel until 2022.

Bryce and Midori welcomed the true joy of their lives, their daughter Devona, in 2008. Bryce was most proud of Devona and happiest when he was spending time with her.

Bryce and Devona were kindred spirits who enjoyed late night television, disliked early mornings and shared a wicked sense of humor.

He loved anything that involved spending time with his daughter. They enjoyed time at their beach house together, surfing, traveling and hitting the slopes.

He never missed an opportunity to watch Devona play soccer and run track and was her biggest fan. He loved watching her grow into the beautiful, strong and independent young lady she has become.

He had a list of friends a mile long. He shared a deep connection with many of his high school buddies who remained in touch over the years.

They enjoyed their reunions and were always able to pick up where they left off, constantly looking for an opportunity to outwit one another with their next practical joke.

He loved dressing up in 80’s rock band attire. As a member of the “Five Horsemen” the group would get together on special occasions in some version of Planes, Trains, Automobiles (and helicopters) to celebrate a special birthday, anniversary or class reunion.

An adventure with Bryce was sure to never disappoint and would likely end with an amazing memory and an opportunity to look back with a warm heart and a laugh.

The only thing that changed over the years amongst those friends was their proximity to one another, the frequency of their time together, the color and amount of hair everyone had, and the addition of a few wrinkles.

However, nothing could change the deep friendship they shared over the years.

As an adult living in Portland, Bryce was fortunate enough to add another group of committed friends.

This group of friends always looked forward to whatever adventure came their way.

It might be piling into a limo with their “press passes” for the evening’s concert, a surf trip to Mexico, a shared ski trip, a night heating up the mic for karaoke, or the annual 4th of July parade in Oceanside, looking like they just stepped out of an 80’s rock band MTV video.

Music was a cornerstone in Bryce’s life and he loved all genres, including alternative, pop, hip hop, rock, country and reggae–which reflected Bryce’s innate ability to find connection with anyone or anything.

His “go-to” music, as an 80s kid from small town Montana, was always hair metal, and the epic dress up charades with his friends were amongst the highlights of all of their lives.

He always looked forward to his “cousin reunions” where he could spend time with his many aunts, uncles and cousins.

They enjoyed time gathering in Lanesboro, Minnesota, where his mother Elaine was born, time in Colorado and San Diego and of course shared time in Oceanside, where Bryce’s heart was most at home and in sync with the ocean.

Bryce and his father Steve shared many memories as father and son over the years. They enjoyed baseball, time on Flathead Lake, fishing trips and visits in Montana. Although distance separated them, they shared a deep connection over the years.

Steve describes a relationship where, “we were father and son, and we were man to man. He respected me and I respected him.” Steve was proud of Bryce’s professional accomplishments and advances in genomics medicine.

Aside from being an amazing father, son, brother, friend, surfer and musician, he became a fierce international advocate for genomics-guided precision medicine.

Over recent years, he spoke at many conferences and events around the world, sharing his personal experiences as a means to increase understanding of gene sequencing in cancer treatment.

During this time, Bryce touched the lives of countless people impacted by cancer, buying them valuable time.

His career at Intel included being in various leadership positions in product and marketing and ultimately, spending the last eight years as the Global Marketing Director for the Health and Life Sciences Group.

His position at Intel provided him with the opportunity to enhance collaborations between technology companies and cancer research.

He led global awareness campaigns such as his “Sequence Me” movement to encourage cancer patients to have their cancer tumors sequenced for more targeted treatment.

He started FACTS (Fighting Advanced Cancer Through Songs) to use music as a way to increase awareness about molecular testing and precision medicine and co-produced an album in 2017, with all proceeds going to his FACTS movement.

In addition, Bryce was instrumental in raising funds to support cancer research and personalized treatment options.

On behalf of Bryce’s family and friends, we extend deep gratitude to Bryce’s care team over his years of cancer treatment.

Dr. Rana McKay, at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Health was instrumental in Bryce’s care. Using data-driven precision medicine, she connected Bryce to various clinical trials over the years and always left Bryce feeling heard and in control of his medical care.

Over the last few weeks and in his last hours, Signature Hospice brought great physical and emotional comfort to Bryce, as well as his family and friends.

There is a famous quote in life, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Bryce, you left us all feeling so well loved and so much better off for having known you.

He was preceded in death by his brother, Mark Olson; and his mother, Elaine Redalen Olson.

He is survived by his father, Steve Olson of Kalispell; and his daughter, Devona Olson of Portland, Oregon; along with many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

His life was a life we all should celebrate. It was fun. It was full. It was intentional. Go forward and leave your mark on this world as though you are Bryce.

There will be a service and luncheon to be held at a later date this fall in Kalispell, with more details to come.

In addition, there will be a Celebration of Life from 6 - 11 p.m. on August 27, at McMenamins Edgefield Blackberry Hall and Meadow in Portland, Oregon.

The event will be epic, just like Bryce.

If you wish to make a memorial donation, they can be made to a GoFundMe account set up to sustain Bryce’s Sequence Me campaign. The donation website is https://gofund.me/fcd54090.