Ashley Olson

Ashley Olson has been a member of the National Willa Cather Center staff since 2008 and has served as the organization’s Executive Director since 2014. In this role, she oversees a museum, arts center, ten historic sites, and a 612-acre native prairie—together comprising the largest collection of nationally designated historic sites dedicated to an American author. 

Under Olson’s leadership, the Center’s assets have grown by more than $17 million. She has strengthened institutional capacity by growing the staff from a primarily part-time team to a majority full-time workforce. Olson has also led strategic initiatives to expand the Center’s core programs in an effort to broaden the organization’s local and national reach. A cornerstone achievement of her tenure was the $7 million adaptive reuse of the historic Moon Block building, transforming it into a museum and archive that anchors the Center’s operations and interpretive work. Building on that momentum, the Center later accepted a major gift of six historic sites and an associated collection of more than 8,000 objects. Olson has since overseen significant capital improvements to preserve these sites, improve accessibility, and prepare them for new exhibits and interpretation. She has secured and administered grants from the National Park Service and from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to restore the Willa Cather Childhood Home and to develop new permanent exhibits. 

Olson holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She also holds a Certificate in Fundraising Management (CFM) and is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE), reflecting the highest standards of ethical and professional practice in the field.