Digital Equipment co-founder Olsen dies at 84

After working at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory in the 1950s, Olsen and Lincoln Lab colleague Harlan Anderson started Digital in an old mill building in Maynard, Massachusetts. In 1998 Compaq acquired the company with Olsen remaining chairman until 1992. With Digital, he helped pioneer a class of computers much smaller than those being built at the time by IBM and other major companies. The smaller machines, known as minicomputers, were the first computers with a price easily accessible to companies and scientific laboratories, and they proliferated rapidly. During the 1980s Digital became one of the largest employers in Massachusetts, hitting peak annual sales of $14billion. Olsen was instrumental in the creation of Project Athena, a campaign to provide computer access to all students, and made major donations of equipment to the project. Microsoft founder Bill Gates described Olsen as 'one of the true pioneers of the computer industry', and called him 'a major influence in my life'. Olsen is survived by two children and a memorial service will be held at Gordon College, Massachusetts on May 14.