Dr. Olson earned his bachelors degree in Psychology at Utah State University and advanced degrees in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and Applied Behavior Analysis at Western Michigan University. Dr. Olson joined the CROET faculty in July of 2005.

Dr. Olson is dedicated to developing and understanding effective occupational safety and health interventions. He is particularly interested in self-management methods and interventions for isolated workers. Dr. Olson has extensive experience with transportation industries and two of his current research programs are focused in commercial trucking. Dr. Olson is a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management and a research committee member for the Society of Occupational Health Psychology.

1. SHIFT (Safety & Health Involvement For Truck drivers)     Show

2. Safety Self-Assessment     Show

3. Vigilance in Safety and Security Work     Show

Olson, R. (March 2-4, 2006). Behavioral self-monitoring as an occupational health assessment and intervention technique. In R. Olson (Chair), Technological and self-managed interventions for occupational and public safety-and-health. Symposium presented at the 6th International Conference on Work Stress and Health, Miami, FL. Abstract

Olson, R. & Austin, J. (2006). Performance-based evaluation of flight student landings: Implications for risk management. International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 16 (1), 97-112.

Olson, R., & Austin, J. (2005).  A step toward early PC-based training that reduces risk: The effects of practicing an “instrument referenced” skill pattern on the “visually referenced” performance of beginning flight students.  Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education and Research, 14 (2), 47-61.

Manuel, J. M., Sunseri, M., Olson, R., & Scolari, M. (in press). A diagnostic approach to increasing reusable dinnerware selection in a cafeteria. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.

Schoenfelder, E., Olson, R., Bell, M., & Tom, K. (in press). Stop and smell the roses: An activity for teaching the central limit theorem in statistics. Psychology Learning and Teaching.

Olson, R. (March 2-4, 2006). Behavioral self-monitoring as an occupational health assessment and intervention technique. In R. Olson (Chair), Technological and self-managed interventions for occupational and public safety-and-health. Symposium presented at the 6th International Conference on Work Stress and Health, Miami, FL. Abstract.

Olson, R. & Austin, J. (2006). Performance-based evaluation of flight student landings: Implications for risk management. International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 16 (1), 97-112.

Olson, R., & Austin, J. (2005). A step toward early PC-based training that reduces risk: The effects of practicing an “instrument referenced” skill pattern on the “visually referenced” performance of beginning flight students. Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education and Research, 14 (2), 47-61.

Olson, R., Verley, J., & Santos, L. (2004). What we teach about the Hawthorne Studies: A review of content within a sample of introductory IO and OB textbooks. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 41 (3), 23-39.

Olson, R. (2002). Putting the organizational culture concept to work. The Behavior Analyst Today, 3 (4), 471-481.

Olson, R. & Austin, J. (2001a). Behavior-based safety and working alone: The effects of a self-monitoring package on the safe performance of bus operators. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 21 (3), 5-43.

Olson, R. & Austin, J. (November, 2001b). ABCs for lone workers: How behavior-based safety worked for bus driver safety. Professional Safety.

Olson, R., Rantz, W., & Dickinson, A. M. (2001). Creating continuous improvement in aviation safety: Fitting a behavior-based safety process to flight school operations. Proceedings of the 5th Annual International Australian Aviation Psychology Association Symposium.

Olson, R., Laraway, S., & Austin, J. (2001). Unconditioned and conditioned establishing operations in organizational behavior management. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 21 (2).

Austin, J., Olson, R., & Wellisley, J. A. (2001). The behavior engineering model at work on a small- scale: Using task clarification, self-monitoring, and public posting to improve customer service. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 11 (2), 53-76.

Austin, J., Alvero, A. M., & Olson, R. (1998). Prompting patron safety belt use at a restaurant. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 31 (4), 655-657.