Priest at Mount Prospect church dies unexpectedly following surgery

The Rev. Arthur J. Olsen, associate pastor at St. Emily Parish in Mount Prospect from July 2014 to March 2017 when he left to attend to a medical issue, has died unexpectedly while recovering from surgery, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced Tuesday in a news release.

Olsen, 53, was at St. Benedict Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Niles when he died last week.

Olsen attended Divine Infant Jesus School in Westchester and Proviso West High School in Hillside, got a degree in journalism at Northwestern University and became a news reporter in Pennsylvania. He changed direction about 20 years ago, attending seminary in Mundelein and being ordained into the priesthood in 1999.

"He said that he suddenly recognized his call to the priesthood while attending Christmas Midnight Mass," Richard Nash, chaplain at Presence Saint Benedict Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, said in the release. "It was a true calling of the Holy Spirit to make a radical change in his life."

Olsen served at St. John Brebeuf in Niles, St. Mary in Lake Forest and St. Hilary in Chicago before coming to St. Emily.

The Rev. Dan Brandt, a classmate and chaplain of the Chicago Police Department, remembers Rev. Olsen as joyful, very smart, friendly priest. "When you saw a purple PT Cruiser, you knew he was there," Brandt said in the release.

"He was one of the best priests I worked with: sociable, likable - everybody liked him," said the Rev. Ronald Navoy, pastor emeritus. "He could have a conversation about anything."

Olsen is survived by his father, Arthur Sr., and siblings, Lori Baker, Erik, John and Chris Olsen.

Visitation will be from 10 to 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 27, at St. Emily Parish Catholic Church, 1400 E. Central Road, followed by a Mass at 11 a.m. Interment will take place at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside.