Woodbury officer injured with son in crash pleads for motorists to drive sober

One minute, last summer, Allan Olson and his son, Jacob, were riding a four-wheeler on a dirt road in Itasca County in northern Minnesota.

The next minute, they were fighting for their lives after a pickup truck driver slammed into the side of their yellow Can-Am Outlander, sending both men airborne.

“I remember sailing through the air and seeing the blue sky, hoping I come down on something soft,” said Olson, as he described the Aug. 11 incident. “I could hear Jacob screaming with a huge laceration on his arm; you could see the bone.”

Both Olsons survived, but their lives were greatly changed. The recovery has been long, and the pain will likely last for years.

“I can barely walk, and I’m probably going to need a full hip surgery in five years,” Olson said.

The driver, who sped off after the crash, was later accused of drunken driving.

On Tuesday, Allan Olson spoke at a Department of Public Safety (DPS) news conference to announce an enforcement campaign to stop impaired driving, which tends to spike during the holidays.

It’s not just drunken drivers law enforcement will be looking for during the campaign. Drivers impaired by any substance, including cannabis, will be stopped, said Col. Christina Bogojevic, chief of the Minnesota State Patrol.

This summer wasn’t Olson’s first experience with a potentially impaired driver.

Olson, who has been a Woodbury police officer for 24 years, had been on the job just a few months when he arrived at a crash scene where an innocent teenager had died as a result of a impaired driver.

“I knew my why,” Olson said, describing how the tragedy helped him discover his reason for becoming a police officer. “I saw a 16-year-old die because of somebody’s poor choice. I got my drive from it.”

Olson has been recognized for his proactiveness making DWI arrests by officials from the Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety.

Between 2020 and 2024, the state recorded 668 deaths and 1,926 serious injuries suffered in crashes in which alcohol was a factor, according to DPS.

Deaths get headlines, but “most people don’t hear about survivors,” Olson said.

After they were hit, Olson had tried to stand up and reach his son, but he realized the truck had ripped off all but one pocket of his pants and his legs didn’t work. In a saving grace, the one pocket of Olson’s pants that remained contained his cell phone, which he used to call for help.

The crash pushed Olson’s femur through his hip. In the months that followed, he underwent several surgeries and physical therapy. He’s progressed from using a wheelchair to a walker and then to using crutches. In recent weeks, Olson has finally been able to put on his own socks.

There has been no lawn mowing, going for a run or cooking dinner. Jacob also continues to mend following emergency surgery he had on the night of the crash.

Olson was down to using one crutch on Tuesday and is hopeful to ditch that by next week.

He said he still faces uncertainties and wonders if he will fully heal or ever get back to work.

Mike Hanson, director of the Office of Traffic Safety, said the Olsons’ story is one that should not have to be told but happens all too often.

“No one should have to suffer from a preventable crash related to an impaired driver,” Hanson said. “Make a commitment to provide a safe and sober ride. It is a gift that has no cost but does and will save lives.”