Distinguished Engineer
Hometown: Lake Andes
Electrical Engineering,
George H. Oleson worked as a radio repairman while working his way through college at South Dakota State College. Following his graduation, he taught at SDSC for a year before joining Hughes Aircraft as a field engineer. For the next 11 years, he held various positions in the Field Engineering Department, becoming assistant manager in 1957. In 1961, he transferred to the Research and Development Laboratories and was responsible for test engineering, including a new environment control system for the F-106 aircraft. During the development of the Phoenix missile the new “track while scan” and “multiple launch” concepts were used and proved highly successful. The phoenix was considered the most capable missile system in the world. In 1976, Oleson became the manager of product effectiveness, reporting to the vice president of the radar systems group. This group was actively involved in developing “state of the art” radar systems for the airframe industry. As vice president of Hughs Systems Management International, he was responsible for all Hughes Aircraft operations in the Middle East with offices located in Tehran, Iran.