As a young man, Kenneth H. Olsen (1926-), developer of the minicomputer, worked summers in a machine shop. Fixing radios in his basement gave him the reputation of a neighborhood ΓÇ£Edison."
After serving in the U.S. Navy between 1944 and 1946, Olsen attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he earned a B.S. (1950) and an M.A. (1952) in electrical engineering. During his studies at MIT, the Office of Naval Research of the Air Force recruited Olsen to help build the WhirlwindΓÇöa revolutionary, computerized flight simulator, and then to work on the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) early warning system. Olsen later assisted in the commercial production of SAGE. At MIT in the 1950's, he directed the building of the first transistorized research computer.
In 1957, Olsen, along with Harlan Anderson, an MIT colleague, formed the Digital Equipment Corporation (Digital) with a $70,000 investment from General Georges F. Doriot at the American Research and Development Corporation. Digital began producing printed circuit logic modules used by engineers to test electronic equipment. The company also started developing the world's first small, interactive computer.
In 1960, Digital produced the Programmed Data Processor or PDP-1 a computer that used a cathode ray tube monitor. In 1965, after two more generations of PDP computers Digital brought out the PDP-8, the world's first mass-produced minicomputer. Later, using integrated circuits, the PDP-8/1 was cheaper and faster than transistor driven machines. In 1970, Digital produced the PDP-11, which became the most popular minicomputer line in history. Digital moved into the FORTUNE 500 in 1974.
Throughout the 1960's, Olsen received four patents: a saturable switch, diode transformer gate circuit, magnetic core memory, and the line printer buffer.
Beginning in 1977, Olsen and Digital brought out the VAX or Virtual Address Extension machines, a more powerful series of minicomputersΓÇöfrom mainframe to desktop sizesΓÇöwhich could run the same software, share the same database, and communicate easily. Digital was simultaneously developing DECnet software, which has evolved into the most comprehensive set of networking tools in the industry.
In the 1980's, Olsen and Digital created a series of microcomputers, which placed the VAX minicomputer structure on a single microchip. Hailed in 1985 as the most important new product since the personal computer, the MicroVax computer family allowed PC users to retrieve large amounts of data instantly, considerably enlarging the scope and power of personal and departmental computing.
Olsen was named Young Engineer of the Year in 1960 and was a member of the President's Science Advisory Committee from 1971-1973. In 1986, FORTUNE magazine called him "the most successful entrepreneur in the history of American business." In addition to serving as the president and a director of Digital, he is also a director at Polaroid Corporation, and the Ford Motor Company.
