I met Ben through Steven Dennis, who was a mutual friend and piano teacher when I lived in the Haight-Ashbury in 1978. I was interested in musical composition, and after studying Aaron Copeland and Arnold Schoenberg's techniques, Ben commenced our lessons with a healthy dose of philosophy, numerous pots of coffee, and if I was lucky, perhaps 5-10 minutes of actual piano instruction.

I was fortunate enough to have been his student and friend during the time he and Don Jung had their "Glass Blast" business on San Pablo Avenue in Oakland, California. In fact, the photo of Ben on the home page, is a photographic technique on glass, which Don tried to patent, unsuccessfully. It was during this period -- roughly the early 1980's when Ben wrote his "American Suite" and other "Short Stories".

When Don became ill, diagnosed with AIDS, we welcomed Ben into our home, along my wife and 4-year old daughter. He stayed with us for approximately 6 - 9 months after Don passed and Ben was also diagnosed with AIDS. Ben was very sick and with the AZT treatment suppressing his appetite, would watch Julia Childs on TV and read cookbooks to help maintain his weight.

Ben moved into his own little apartment in the "Tender Heights" area (between Pacific Heights and the Tenderloin in San Francisco) for nearly a year before he died, and it was there in his apartment, that a number of friends gathered to index the 3-foot high stack of compositions Ben left behind. We copied as many of Ben's pieces as possible, and sent the originals to a family member who wishes to remain anonymous. Some of the copies we made were of poor resolution, so we are interested in any originals or copies Ben may have made and given to friends over the years.

As the acting Director of the Ben Olsen Music Foundation, I am but a humble curator who could not bear to see Ben's music lost and unappreciated.

John Winterhalter was a student and freind of Ben Olsen, prior to his service in the military. John was devastated when he found out Ben had passed, and is committed to helping spread Ben's music to others. An article was published in the Bay Area Reporter on 2012, featuring an interview with John, and can be found here.

John has been a studious researcher of Ben Olsen's legacy, finding a list of Ben's compositions at the University of Kansas, which inherited the Kansas Conservatory of Music's archives. This document can be viewed here. You will find attributions to John's work as a copyist, publishing many of Ben's scores in Finale, and generating midi files to give listeners a taste of Ben's music, until we can hopefully obtain quality recordings of accomplished musicians who can do justice to Ben's compositions.

Mr. Natural, (yes, that is his legal name) whose freinds call "Natch", has been a longtime freind of Ben Olsen's. Natch was among the group of freinds who helped catalogue Ben's music after Ben passed away, and possesses identical copies of what Craig Erickson has. Ben also gave Natch some "original copies" which Ben often gave to people as gifts.

Mr. Natural still lives in San Francisco, and has operates the Mr. Natural's School of Music, featuring a "Strictly by the Numbers" approach to music, emphasizing the intervals between notes rather than the notes themselves.