Jake Olson

Jake Olson was appointed to serve as a member of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition.  Jake is 23 years old, a resident of Huntington Beach, California, and a graduate of the University of Southern California (USC). When Jake was 8 months old, he was diagnosed with a rare form of eye cancer, retinoblastoma. The disease claimed his left eye at 10 months old, and in November 2009, Jake lost his right eye after battling the cancer for 12 years. Jake confronted many challenges and encountered many setbacks during his battle and loss of sight, but remained strong through his faith in God. He has used his experience to inspire and motivate others by authoring two books, creating a non-profit foundation to help visually impaired children, and sharing his story openly as a motivational speaker.  Jake is also a life-long USC football fan.  While in high school he learned to long snap and was the starting long snapper for his team his junior and senior year.  After being accepted to USC, he was offered a walk-on spot with the USC football team.  He had his first opportunity to snap in a live collegiate game on September 2, 2017, and was named the Pac-12 special teams player of the week.  He then had his second opportunity to snap in his first Pac-12 game on October 7, 2017.