About Us

Welcome to our website where we will initially be offering fine cabochons and fancy-cut stones of unusual materials for the jewelry designer and the gem collector. At a later date, the mineral-specimen portion of our business will also be represented.

Both of us started collecting minerals and gemstones when we were 8 years old. Don's first collecting experiences were at the pegmatite mines in Southern California and Gloria's were in the quarries of the Midwest.

When Don was a teenager he lived in Minnesota where he collected Lake Superior agates to trade for minerals with other collectors. He started selling minerals when he was 14. His mineral and gem business continued as Minerals International while he attended the University of Minnesota and during his career at Champion International Paper Co. He was able to attend most major shows as a dealer and during this time he became an expert on the Copper Country minerals of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Gloria graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio with a BA degree in chemistry & geology. She went on to Ohio State University where she received Master of Science and PhD degrees in mineralogy. For 18 years, she was co-owner for of the store, What on Earth, in Columbus, Ohio, which specialized in minerals, fossils, carvings, gemstones, jewelry & other nature-related items. In 1984, Don and Gloria founded Donald K. Olson & Associates, an international gemstones and mineral specimen business. We have enjoyed years of traveling to shows across the country as well as to foreign locations including Africa and China. Each year you will see our displays of fine minerals and gemstones at various shows in California, Denver, Tucson, and Springfield, Massachusetts.

As we initiate this website, after years of prodding from our customers, we welcome suggestions to better serve you. We thank our website designer, Matt Black, for all the work that he put into what we know will be a very successful venture.