Jim Olin

James R. (Jim) Olin (February 28, 1920 – July 29, 2006) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia.

Olin was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in an upper-class suburb. He attended the ultra-exclusive and non-traditional Deep Springs College, before moving on to Cornell University, from which he earned an electrical engineering degree. Olin served for three years in the U.S. Army during World War II. Upon discharge, General Electric hired him. He worked for the corporation for 35 years, eventually reaching the rank of corporate vice president and general manager of industrial electronics.

Olin, a Democrat, made his first bid for political office in 1953, when he became Rotherdam, New York and Schenectady County supervisor. In 1982, Olin was elected to represent the 6th district of Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives. While in the House, Olin was considered by most to be a moderate member of the state's delegation. For example, in 1991, he opposed the Persian Gulf War. In 1990, he was one of the only three Democrats in the House to vote against Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. [http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1990/roll123.xml#N] That same year, he clashed with President George H. W. Bush over his budget proposals.

Olin did not run for a sixth term in 1992. That same year he received an honorary LLD from Washington and Lee University. He died at age 86 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Sources

* [http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/76208 Obituary from The Roanoke Times]
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###@@@KEY@@@###USRepSuccessionBox
state=Virginia
district=6
before=M. Caldwell Butler
years=1983–1993
after=Bob Goodlatte