Parliament
Olsen was a member of the Liberal Party and Member of Parliament for more than 20 years. His political career was marked by a bitter rivalry with Dean Brown, the two representing the conservative and moderate wings of the South Australian Liberal Party respectively. After the 1982 election and the electoral defeat and retirement of David Tonkin, Olsen defeated Brown for the State Liberal Party leadership and became Leader of the Opposition. Up against the Labor premier John Bannon, Olsen lost the 1985 and 1989 elections. He moved to the Australian Senate between 1990 and 1992, before returning to state politics at the 1992 Kavel by-election, on the same day as Dean Brown at the 1992 Alexandra by-election. This time, Brown defeated Olsen in the leadership ballot, and thus became premier when the Liberals won the 1993 election in a landslide where the Liberals won 37 of the 47 seats available.
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