Biography
Erling 'Eric' B. Olsen (b. Oslo, Norway 1903 - d. 1992) studied at the Oslo School of Art, St Martin's School of Art, London and at the faience studio at Sèvres. He worked at the Wedgwood factory as a designer and modeller in 1931 designing a range of Art Deco relief-moulded ornamental earthenware. He also worked at the Spode company as a designer from around 1932.
Olsen's greatest popular successes were probably his Toby Jugs of Sir Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt. These were so popular that an entire department was set aside for their production. Subsequently Olsen designed a statuette of Churchill leaving No 10 Downing Street, modelled after a photograph. In 1936 he was selected as a National Register Designer by the English Board of Trade and in 1937 an exhibition of his studio type wares in London was opened by the Queen of Norway. In 1942 Olsen left the Spode company to join the Norwegian Quartermaster General where he was a camouflage expert. After WW2 he emigrated to the United States where he became chief designer at Haeger Potteries in Illinois.
