Nick Olsen Knows How to Swing for the Fences
Nicholas Olsen is one of the newer members of Team VPCS, having joined us in October of 2024. And we’re so happy to have him, as he brings valuable facilities management experience from the district side. But Nick is so much more than a construction and program manager (CM/PM). He’s also a newlywed, a busy dad AND a switch-hitter (on the baseball field). We sat down with him to hear more.
Q: What VPCS team have you been assigned to?
A: I’m in the Redwood City School District. We’re the program and construction managers for Measure S, which is a $298 million bond that passed in 2022. I really like getting involved in bond programs from the planning phase, which is something I’ve done when I’ve been on staff at other districts. In fact, before I joined VPCS, I was a one-person facilities and construction department at one of the districts where I worked. So I know how to wear a lot of hats, which comes in handy in this line of work.
Q: How has your experience on the district side informed the work that you’re doing now representing owners as a CM/PM?
A: It means I understand both perspectives; I know how school districts operate and what their priorities typically are. And VPCS really does live up to its promise, which is something Mark [Van Pelt] says all the time: our job sites are schools where construction is taking place, not construction sites where school is taking place. School operations always come first.
Q: Did you always know you wanted to be a construction/program manager?
A: I actually started college in the architecture program. But one of the first required courses was construction management, and that class got me started on this path. I switched my major and here I am! I like to look at every project from both the design and constructability side.
Q: Shifting gears here, but starting your new VPCS job wasn’t even the biggest news of the past year for you, right?
A: That’s right. I also got married last May – just a few months before I started the job. My wife and I had a beautiful celebration in Puerto Vallarta, which is a place she’s gone to with her family for many years, so the location is pretty special to us. And our kids were part of the ceremony – I have two from my first marriage and my wife and I have a two-year-old together – and they all walked down the aisle together holding hands. It was pretty great. And now we have another one on the way, due in March.
Q: Congratulations! Is your wife connected to education also?
A: Yes, she’s been a Spanish language teacher for about 20 years and now works for the Virtual Academy, which is part of Pleasanton Unified. In fact, VPCS is working on a new building where her program will be based. And my older kids have always gone to school in that district and it’s where I used to work as director of facilities and construction, so we’re very connected there.
Q: So do you raise your kids bilingually?
A: Yes and no. Everyone else in the household speaks Spanish. My wife first got interested in the language when her family started traveling to Mexico when she was a kid, and now she teaches it. My older kids went to a Spanish immersion program when they were in elementary school, so they’re pretty fluent. And I have to assume that our toddler and the new baby will pick it up too. I’m sort of the outlier. They could all talk about me in Spanish and I wouldn’t know what they were saying!
Q: Well, you have other skills.
A: I guess that’s true. One fun fact about me is that I’m ambidextrous – mostly in baseball. I started playing when I was about four years old and have always been able to play on both sides, even though I’m a natural lefty. In baseball, it’s more valuable to be left-handed, so I got a lot more practice on that side. Still, I pitched with both arms and hit from both sides of the plate.
Q: Very impressive. Do you still play?
A: No, not since my twenties. I guess once I started having kids, my focus shifted. But then I started coaching my older kids, which was fun. I’ve coached baseball, softball, soccer and basketball – pretty much anything my kids wanted to play I would coach. And I guess the two little ones will have no choice but to get involved in sports, and my wife and I will end up coaching them too! She was also an athlete in school, although she played soccer so that might be what these next two will play.
Q: Sounds like a great way to share time with your kids.
A: Absolutely. I loved coaching my older kids and I look forward to getting back into it with my younger two. These days, though, we don’t have any extra time. We’re mostly just running the kids around and then we’ll be back in baby mode starting in March. But that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to join VPCS. This is such a family-friendly place to work. Plus, I get to help build schools, which I just love to do.
January 21, 2025