As CEO of the Hurts, Frank A. Olson made running back O.J. Simpson the star of the company's commercials. This in-house marriage brightened both parties and lasted for 20 years until Mr. Simpson was charged with double murder in 1994 – the same Wednesday that Mr. Simpson died at his home in Palm Beach, Florida. Mr. Olson was 91 years old.
According to her sons Christopher and Blake, the cause was complications from the coronavirus.
The coincidental timing of the deaths of Mr. Olson, who guided the Hurts through years of corporate turmoil, and Mr. Simpson, an athlete-turned-pitcher turned notorious criminal defendant, has led to the death of Mr. Olson, who had led the Hurts through years of corporate turmoil. The two bonded in some way, but he later distanced himself from her.
More than just business partners, Mr. Olson and Mr. Simpson, both natives of San Francisco, partnered in the 1970s on a mutually beneficial zone where corporate and social life intertwine. Mr. Olson, an avid golfer, sponsored Mr. Simpson a membership to the private Arcola Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey, and in 1992 Mr. Simpson, a former Heisman Trophy winner and Pro Football Hall of Famer, became the first black member.
Simpson expressed his “love and gratitude” in a letter he left at his Los Angeles home before he was arrested for the stabbings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald L. Goldman. He mentioned his friend's name. Mr. Olson was one of them.
“I took him to places that I think very few black men have ever been to,” Olson said in the acclaimed 2016 documentary “O.J.: Made in America.”
Mr. Simpson was 76 years old when he died of cancer at his home in Las Vegas.
The idea to use him in Hertz commercials to symbolize speedy service, which began in 1974, came from the company's advertising agency. But the choice made the agency nervous because Mr. Simpson was black and most of Hertz's customers were white businessmen, according to a 1994 article in the Washington Post. The decision then fell to Olson, who at the time was executive vice president and general manager of the rental car division. (We also rent trucks.)
Mr. Olson approved this. The ad, which depicts Mr. Simpson speeding through an airport on his way to his rental car, was a hit. Hertz claimed the campaign boosted sales amid intense competition from Avis and other competitors.
Mr. Olson continued to personally negotiate Mr. Simpson's contract, which expanded to include personal appearances. The two played golf foursomes with major Hertz clients, and during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Mr. Simpson and his wife hosted a lavish party for Hertz executives at their Brentwood-area mansion.
Mr. Simpson contacted Mr. Olson after Mr. Olson was charged with assaulting his wife on New Year's Day in 1989. Police found Mr Simpson hiding in the bushes outside his home, badly beaten.
Years later, Mr. Olson said by phone that Mr. Simpson downplayed the incident. Mr. Simpson's challenge to the battery charge received little attention, but Hertz retained him as a celebrity sales representative.
A Hearts spokesperson said at the time that “we consider this a private matter” between the Simpsons.
Five years later, on the night Mr. Simpson and Mr. Goldman were murdered outside their condominium, Mr. Simpson was on his way to Chicago to play golf with Hertz executives and customers. He was arrested a few days later.
The company announced that he would be fired immediately. Nor was the relationship rekindled after his acquittal in a criminal trial that transfixed the nation and exposed the polarized views of black and white Americans toward the criminal justice system.
Later, when Mr. Simpson was found liable in the lawsuit and ordered to pay $33.5 million to the victims' families, Mr. Olson became a witness. He testified that when Mr. Simpson called him in 1989 about his arrest for assault, Mr. Simpson lied about the seriousness of the attack.
“If I had known at the time that this was the situation, O.J. Simpson would never have worked for Hertz again,” Olson testified, as quoted by the Associated Press.
Frank Olson was born Frank Albert Johnson on July 19, 1932 in San Francisco to Fred Mary (Hazeldine) Johnson and Edith Mary Johnson. His mother was an English immigrant who worked as a stenographer and had a series of husbands, including railroad conductor Alfred Olson, who adopted Frank.
In addition to his sons, Mr. Olson is survived by his wife, Sarah Olson, whom he married in 1957. daughter Kim Olson; and seven grandchildren.
Mr. Olson began his career in the rental car business at the age of 18 as a night manager at San Francisco International Airport.
After graduating from City College of San Francisco, he established his own rental car business. He sold it to Hertz in his 1964 year and joined the company's ranks.
He quickly climbed the company escalator. He became responsible for Hertz's operations in California and Arizona. He moved east in 1967 as head of the New York City division. Two years later he was appointed Eastern Region Vice President. In 1970, he became general manager of all Hertz rental car operations in the United States.
In 1974, he joined the board of Hertz, then owned by RCA Corporation. In 1977, he was named CEO of Hertz. In 1980 he became chairman.
When Hertz was sold to UAL, the parent company of United Airlines, in 1985, Mr. Olson became a member of UAL's board of directors. He then became chairman of the company (later renamed Allegis) and presided over a stormy period in 1987, fighting an attempt by United Airlines pilots to take over the company.
That same year, Ford Motor Company paid Hertz $1.2 billion. Mr. Olson remained chairman. Although he stepped down as chief executive in 1999, he retained the title of non-executive chairman.
His sons said he never spoke to or about Mr. Simpson after his 1994 murder trial.
Kirsten Noyes Contributed to research.