Harry Oscar Olsen, Jr.

Harry O. Olsen, Jr. a resident of Warwick RI for over 75 years, passed away peacefully at home and surrounded by family on September 5, 2025.  Harry had celebrated his 100th birthday In July.   

Harry was the husband of the late Jacqueline A. Olsen (Sweeney) for over 60 years.  He was the son of the late Harry O. Olsen and Randi Johnsen Olsen.

Born in Providence RI on 7/3/1925, Harry spent his early childhood on Staten Island.  At the age of 10, he moved back to RI and lived on Toronto Ave in the Washington Park section of Providence where he attended the Broad Street School, Roger Williams Junior High School and Hope High School.

Like many young men and women of his generation, Harry sacrificed his last six months of high school to join the military and defend our country in WW2.  Because he was underage, Harry spent his first year of service as a seaman first class with the Coast Guard Auxiliary and Reserve, spending his nights patrolling Narragansett Bay on a Coast Guard picket boat.  In 1943, Harry turned 18 and began his 3+ years of service in the Merchant Marine.  He attained the rank of quartermaster, manning the helm of several vessels across all war zones in the Atlantic and Pacific transporting ammunition, fuel, troops and supplies for the war effort and occasionally serving as decoys to locate enemy submarines. 

In July 2022, Harry received a Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of his courage, service and contributions while serving in the Merchant Marine during World War II.

After the war, Harry finished his final year with the Merchant Marine as chief quartermaster on cargo and passenger ships serving the Eastern Seaboard, the Caribbean and South America.  In 1947, he married his high school sweetheart, Jacqueline A. Sweeney.  They returned to Washington Park in Providence for the first few years of their marriage before building a house in the Edgewater Beach section of Warwick where they raised their family and enjoyed their retirement years. 

Harry began his civilian career as a draftsman and junior engineer at Scott Testers and Pittsburgh Plate in Providence before joining Plastic Mold & Engineering Company as a general foreman in 1948.  Over the next 30 years, he served in a variety of capacities for the company, working his way up to Vice President.  In 1978, Harry joined Superior Plastics Company of Cumberland RI where he served as General Manager and Vice President of Manufacturing until he retired in 1995.  He held several patents for specialty medical and surgical devices that are still in use today.

Harry was very active in sailing and boating his entire life.  He built his first working sailboat before the age of 10 and, as a teen, designed a one-of-a-kind sailboat with his friend Bill Shaw (later of Pearson Yachts).  In 1991, Harry pursued his lifelong ambition to be a licensed captain, obtaining his U.S. Coast Guard Marine Officers Master License for Auxiliary and Sail Vessels in U.S. Coastal Waters.  He and Jackie owned an array of sail and power boats throughout their marriage of 60+ years and spent countless summers cruising the waters of New England with their family and friends.   In the off-seasons, Harry and Jackie enjoyed sailing in the Caribbean, traveling through Europe and Asia and exploring the United States in their RV.

Harry had a wide variety of interests and talents.  He designed and built furniture, lawn ornaments and toys for his family and friends using repurposed nautical equipment, including tables with propeller bases, lazy susans and turntables from captains’ wheels, and lamps from sextants and schooner rigging blocks.  He also enjoyed sketching, painting with watercolors, and model ship building.  In his final years, Harry worked with his daughter-in-law to memorialize his adventures in a book.

Over his lifetime, Harry was a member of numerous organizations including the Demolays, the Boy Scouts, the Sea Scouts, the Washington Park Yacht Club, the Edgewood Yacht Club, the East Greenwich Yacht Club, the U. S. Power Squadron, Ponaug Marina, The Cedar Tree Point Association, the Edgewater Beach Association, the Drum Rock Riding Club, the Steamship Historical Society of America, the Merchant Marines Veterans Association and the Society of Plastics Engineers.

Harry is survived by 3 of his beloved children, M. Jessie MacLean and her husband Kenneth of North Kingstown, Marie O. Palmer and her husband Douglas of Warwick and J. Christian Olsen and his wife Janice, also of Warwick, 8 grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren and a niece and nephew.  He was predeceased by his daughter Randi C. LaRoche, formerly of Saunderstown.

His Funeral will be held on Friday, September 12, 2025 at 8:30AM from THE URQUHART-MURPHY FUNERAL HOME, 800 Greenwich Avenue, Warwick with a Mass of Christian Burial to be celebrated at 10:00AM at Immaculate Conception Church, 237 Garden Hills Drive, Cranston. Interment will follow at Quidnessett Memorial Cemetery in North Kingstown.

Visitation will be held at the Funeral Home on Thursday, September 11, 2025 from 4:00PM-7:00PM.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to: VNA of Care New England, 51 Health Lane, Warwick, RI 02886.

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