THOMAS F. OLIN
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer,
Archway Cookies, Incorporated
Clandestine Service Operations Officer,
United States Central Intelligence Agency
Major, United States Army / USAR
University of Michigan 1952, Economics
Sigma Chi Fraternity "Significant Sig"
Ashland, Ohio's first "Citizen of the Year"
In Chronological Order
Presented in high resolution 1500 pixel format
(Click on images and documents to enlarge)
Tom was born on April 24, 1928, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Merton and Ann Olin. His father was an executive with the J.C. Penney Company, opening new stores for the company in the upper midwest. Tom lived in North Dakota, Wisconsin, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and York, Pennsylvania before finally settling down in Grove City, Pennsylvania. He attended seven different schools before the third grade.
1946. After graduating from Grove City (Pennsylvania) Senior High School, Tom joined the U.S. Army and was stationed in Japan as part of the post-war occupation. He was assigned to Company C, 720th Military Police Battalion, Eighth United States Army, where his responsibilities included protection of General Douglas McArthur's Headquarters (located in the Dai Ichi Building) in downtown Tokyo. 1947 Company C, 720th Military Police Battalion Eighth US Army Roster Military Police Duty Roster - May 30, 1947 Downtown Tokyo, Japan (University of Michigan ROTC brochure: Tom is on the left)
(University of Michigan, Sigma Chi 1950, Tom is in fifth row, third from left)
(University of Michigan, Sigma Chi 1951, Tom is in second row, third from left)
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY After graduation, Tom was selected to work in clandestine operations for the Central Intelligence Agency. At the time, the agency was recruiting from elite college campuses, selecting only those with both physical prowess and high intelligence. During its entrance evaluation, the CIA estimated that Tom's Intelligence Quotient exceeded 172. His particular area of expertise was an eidetic memory. Joining the agency in February of 1952, he was given an alias (Tim O'Brien) and began covert paramilitary training at Quantico and Camp Peary, Virginia, to be part of an insertion team into Albania with the goal of destabilizing and overthrowing the Soviet-dominated regime of Enver Hoxha. This would be accomplished through the use of propaganda media, infiltration agents, and economic warfare. Known as Operation BGFIEND, the program had been part of a joint CIA(US)-MI6(British) operation since 1949.
This parachute emergency rip-cord saved Tom's life when his primary chute failed to open during CIA low-altitude night jump training. Jumps were made from as low as three hundred feet, using the "prop-wash" from aircraft such as the Curtiss C-46 Commando to pop the chutes open.
Gloria J. Olin (Detroit Free Press, September 26, 1952) Meanwhile, there were developing signs that the Albanian program had been compromised. Several CIA insertion teams had been ambushed and killed during their drops and more than 300 pro-U.S. Albanian guerrillas had been divulged and executed. Tom remained in Washington, working with an undercover assessment team to identify and evaluate intelligence leaks. Ultimately, several were discovered, including H.A.R. "Kim" Philby, a high-ranking member of MI-6 who had worked in Washington for two years, and was acting as a double-agent to provide the Soviet-backed Albanian Sigurimi with subversion plans. Nearly the entire CIA operation had been undermined from its outset. These Top Secret CIA documents discussing Albanian operations from 1952 - 1953 were declassified in 2007 and provide insight into Tom's activities during that time ... The CIA began to wind down BGFIEND in late 1953, and withdrew from Albania. Kim Philby resigned from MI-6 and eventually defected to the Soviet Union. Tom Olin left the CIA in late 1953, and he and Gloria returned to Michigan to begin a new phase of their lives in her home town of Battle Creek. CIA Plan For Albania (1949 - Declassified) The Journal of Intelligence History - Albania FOREIGN POLICY SEMINARS AMERICAN ASSEMBLY - BROOKINGS INSTITUTION
After returning from his service in the CIA, Tom remained involved in government activities and attended several foreign policy conferences, sponsored by The Brookings Institution and The American Assembly during the late 1950s and 1960s. Having extensive knowledge and experience in foreign affairs, he was recommended for these seminars by University of Michigan Political Science professor, Dr. Russell Fifield.
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CAN IT BE EXPORTED?"
Address to the American Institute of Banking
September 15, 1962
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CONTRACTORS AND ENGINEERS
OLIN CONSTRUCTION COMPANY
In 1954, after returning from Washington D.C., Tom began working for his in-laws at F. J. Skidmore and Son - Contractors and Engineers, in Battle Creek, Michigan. There, he was general contractor as well as secretary / treasurer for the company.
By 1959, he had started his own business, Olin Construction Company, specializing in residential design and build. Although not a licensed architect, Tom was gifted in architectural design. He was an enthusiast of Frank Lloyd Wright and Joseph Eichler (Eichler California homes) and often incorporated their approach into his efficient and stylish open-plan houses. Many featured contemporary post and beam, clerestory, and concrete block designs. He built more than thirty homes throughout southwest Michigan, from Marshall to Mattawan. Several of Tom's homes are still standing today, almost sixty years after construction.
(Photos courtesy of Google street view)
Two surviving Tom Olin - early 1960s designed and built homes in Battle Creek, Michigan.
(Tom is at far left in top photo and third from right in bottom photo)
Tom remained active in the United States Army Reserves until February 3, 1969. He retired a Major (USAR - TC).
Tom once recalled, "When I first arrived in Ashland and took up the reigns at the bakery, I was so fired up that I could have walked through a brick wall to go to work every day." |
Archway Cookies publicity photos, circa 1967 and 1970.
(taken inside Tom's Ashland bakery office)
(taken inside Tom's Ashland bakery office)
(Ashland Times Gazette, January 22, 1971)
(Ashland Times Gazette, August 19, 1972)
(Ashland Times Gazette articles) Committed to his community, Tom volunteered his time with literally dozens of civic organizations including: Ashland University Board of Trustees and Ashland University President's Advisory Council, Ashland County Heart Fund, Director of Farmers (Huntington) Bank and Trust, Vice President of the Ashland Chamber of Commerce, President of the Ashland Public Library, Board member of First Presbyterian Church, City of Ashland Area Traffic Improvement Committee, and Ashland Manufacturer's Council.
Mansfield News Journal February 4, 1979 MASTER MASON / LIFE MEMBER SALADIN TEMPLE TENNESSEE SQUIRE
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BLOCKADERS: RUNNERS & RAIDERS"
Presentation to the Battle Creek Civil War Roundtable
November 19, 1973
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Presentation to the Western Reserve Civil War Round Table
February 15, 1977
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REMARKABLE RAIL-SPLITTER"
Presentation to the Ashland Rotary Club
February 13, 1979
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CHAIRMAN - ARCHWAY COOKIES, INCORPORATED
NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY
IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
In 1986, Ashland University honored Tom with Honorary Membership in Delta Mu Delta, National Honor Society in Business Administration. |
ASHLAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
INDUSTRIAL APPRECIATION DINNER
(Ashland Times Gazette, March 1988)
Tom often returned to Ashland to visit the bakery, family and friends. On March 16, 1988, he was invited to be the keynote speaker at the 1988 Ashland Chamber of Commerce Industrial Appreciation Dinner, where the topic was "Investing in the Eighties." |
Ashland Chamber of Commerce
Industrial Appreciation Dinner
March 16, 1988
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Certificate of recognition and appreciation presented on behalf of the citizens of Ashland, Ohio by Mayor Don Richey.
March 16, 1988.
SIGMA CHI FRATERNITY - "SIGNIFICANT SIG MEDAL"
In 1993, at the Sigma Chi fraternity international grand chapter meeting in Toronto, Canada, Tom Olin was awarded with the "Significant Sig Medal" for outstanding achievements and leadership in both business and public service. Sigma Chi Fraternity - 'Significant Sig' Website Sigma Chi (Theta Theta) - Significant Sigs ARCHWAY COOKIES INC. NATIONAL ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS
1980s Archway 'Big Cookie Time' Commercial
(Featuring Actor Billy Zane)
1993 Archway Holiday Cookie Commercial (Click below) THE SUCCESS OF ARCHWAY COOKIES, INCORPORATED
Tom and Archway Vice President Tom Seddon present Children's Miracle Network celebrity John Schneider with a check for $250,000 during the June 1993 telethon.
(Battle Creek Enquirer, Business Journal, November 1, 1995) By 1995, Archway Cookies had earned a position as the third largest cookie brand in the United States, with national sales exceeding one hundred million units annually. |
(Battle Creek Enquirer, March 25, 1995)
By early 1996, the company had begun implementing a succession plan, thus enabling Tom to take on a different role.
Junior Achievement National Leadership Conference
Honorary National Chairman - Thomas F Olin
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
July 28, 1996
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Tom and his wife, Gloria, at his 50th high school reunion. Grove City, Pennsylvania. August 1996.
Gloria J. Olin
Tom was a member of the University of Michigan Alumni Association, President's Society (Harry B. Hutchins Society), Victors Club, and was a sponsor of Michigan Replay.
1996 ARCHWAY COOKIES, INCORPORATED
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
(Back Row: Tom Seddon, Don Keaton, Kermit Darkey, Chris Christ)
(Front Row: Gene McKay Jr, Tom Olin Jr, Gene McKay III, Tom Olin)
ARCHWAY COOKIES - 1996
3rd LARGEST COOKIE BRAND IN THE UNITED STATES
LARGEST MANUFACTURER OF
HOLIDAY COOKIES IN THE WORLD
FASTEST-GROWING FAT FREE COOKIE BRAND
IN THE WORLD
ANNUAL PACKAGE SALES: 125,000,000+
ANNUAL RETAIL SALES: $300,000,000+
THOMAS F. OLIN
PHOTO GALLERY
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APRIL 24, 1928 - OCTOBER 30, 1996
(Battle Creek Enquirer, Front Page, October 31, 1996)
(Detroit Free Press, October 31, 1996) |
(Kalamazoo Gazette, November 5, 1996)
(Battle Creek Enquirer, October 31, 1996) |
(Ashland Times Gazette, October 31, 1996) |
(Memorial Program, First Congregational Church, Battle Creek, Michigan)
"Horizons"
Battle Creek Community Foundation Newsletter
December 1996
"Report of the President"
Ashland University Annual Report
1995 - 1996
Archway News, Special Edition Thomas F. Olin April 24, 1928 - October 30, 1996 |
Find-A-Grave - Thomas F. Olin, Sr.
Find-A-Grave - Gloria J. Olin
A memorial stone and tree were planted by the employees of the Ashland, Ohio Archway bakery in honor of Thomas F. Olin.
"Stop and smell the roses along the way"
The Olin Family Trilogy: