Services in South Carolina for Stevenson grad, sheriff’s deputy who died during underwater training
Services are being held Wednesday morning in Lexington, South Carolina, for 29-year-old Stevenson High School graduate Jillian Olson.
Olson, a Lexington resident and a member of the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department’s dive team, died Thursday during an underwater training session on Lake Murray, the sheriff’s office announced.
Born in Evanston and raised in Northbrook and Buffalo Grove, Olson graduated in 2015 from Stevenson, where she played softball.
She received a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement and justice administration from Western Illinois University in 2019 and stayed to complete a master’s degree in student personnel services in 2021.
She began her career as a Lexington County deputy in 2021. After more than a year as a patrol deputy, she transferred to a warrant deputy position before being promoted to master deputy in the warrant division last year.
She has been a member of the department’s dive team since 2024.
“Our hearts are broken by the loss of a valuable member of the sheriff’s department,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said. “Jillian exemplified commitment and service. She faithfully carried out her duties and selflessly worked to make those around her better.”
The Lexington County Sheriff’s Foundation named Olson the outstanding judicial services deputy of the year at its annual awards banquet last spring, Koon said.
“The foundation recognized Jillian for showing exceptional initiative and leadership by, on her own time, developing reference guides and document templates for use by judicial services deputies,” Koon said. “The tools Jillian developed improved deputy training and operational workflow.”
Olson received the department’s tactical operations support award in 2023. She was scheduled to receive the department’s five-year honorable service award next month.
“Jillian’s dedication to her community and department is well-documented with awards and recognitions,” Koon said. “She’ll be most remembered for what she did with no fanfare. Her decision to join our dive team is just one example of her going above and beyond.”
According to her obituary, she loved spending time on the lake — paddleboarding, floating in the sunshine and diving. She had recently celebrated her 100th dive.
Olson will lie in state at Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Lexington. Burial will take place Wednesday at St. Michael Lutheran Church Cemetery in Columbia, South Carolina.
szalusky@dailyherald.com