Charlie Olson has been the Director of Volleyball at ULM since August, 2019. He is entering his fourth season as the head coach of both the indoor and beach volleyball programs in 2022-23.
In the 2022 beach season, Olson helped coach Rylin Adams and Kayla Gallant to 14 wins each. Gallant finished her career as the all-time winningest player in ULM beach history with 73 career victories. Seven different Warhawks finished with 10 or more wins on the season. ULM won its first postseason dual in program history, defeating Southern Miss, 3-2, in the Conference USA Championship in Huntsville, Alabama.
In the 2021 indoor season, Olson coached Cali Assaley to one of the top seasons in ULM volleyball history. Assaley was named Second-Team All-Louisiana, becoming the first Warhawk since Catherine Griffith in 2018 to earn postseason honors. She set the new ULM 25-point rally scoring era record for kills in a single season with 347 (3.40 per set) while adding 363.5 points. She totaled 28 kills in a win over Louisiana Tech and 27 in a victory over Georgia State to open Sun Belt Conference play.
The Warhawk beach volleyball program posted 14 victories in the spring of 2021, the fourth-most wins in program history, while appearing in its first conference tournament, playing in the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association Championship in Huntsville, Alabama. The No. 1 pair of Audrey Brooks and Julia Blazek set a program record with 20 victories as No. 1 seeds and finished second for single-season victories in program history behind Catherine Griffith and Maile Sellers, who won 22 matches at the No. 2 position.
In addition to the success on the sand, the beach volleyball team had a 3.65 team GPA in the spring of 2021, including five student-athletes with a perfect. 4.0 GPA and nine student-athletes on the Dean’s List with a 3.50 or better GPA. The squad posted a 3.69 team GPA in the fall of 2020, with four student-athletes with a perfect 4.0 GPA and nine on the Dean’s List.
Olson helped the ULM indoor volleyball program achieve a high-level of academic success while facing the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, with his team posting a 3.50 GPA in the spring semester, including five student-athletes with a perfect 4.0 GPA and seven student-athletes with a 3.80 or higher GPA. Nine student athletes qualified for the Dean’s List with a 3.50 or better GPA. It followed a fall 2020 semester where Warhawk volleyball posted a 3.24 team GPA with six student athletes on the Dean’s List.
The COVID-19 pandemic provided for a difficult 2020 indoor schedule, with ULM playing just 23 matches, including 18 against Sun Belt Conference opponents. Senior transfer Haley Coulter paced the Warhawks with 161 kills and 18 blocks on the season and earned Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors following the opening weekend after posting 21 kills and 23 digs in the season-opening win over Lamar.
In his first season at the helm of Warhawk volleyball, he led the indoor team to a one-win improvement over 2018. ULM finished 10-6 in the non-conference slate, including winning two of three matches at both the New Orleans Invitational and the Louisiana Tech Invitational. Inside Sun Belt Conference play, ULM notched its first win over Little Rock since 1992. The 12 overall wins were the most by a Warhawk volleyball team since the 2015 squad won 14 matches.
On the sand, Olson coached the Warhawks to a trio of wins before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Warhawks showed improvement as the season progressed, winning three matches over their final two tournaments of the spring.
Olson came to ULM after spending the previous five seasons as an Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Sam Houston State University. Olson worked for long-time SHSU coach Brenda Gray, helping lead the Bearkats to 86 victories and five consecutive appearances in the Southland Conference tournament.
Olson joined the staff at SHSU in 2014, where his responsibilities included recruiting, match statistics, video breakdown and distribution, individual sessions and practice competition. He also handled the majority of the team’s social media content.
Prior to SHSU, Olson served as a volunteer assistant coach at Tennessee, where he helped train All-American libero Ellen Mullins. Olson has been involved in playing and coaching volleyball for 18 years with stops in California, Idaho, Arizona, Virginia and Tennessee. In 2012, he was the Virginia State AAA Coach of the Year after leading Floyd E. Kellam High School to a third straight state championship.
Olson attended Chico State University, where he played on the men’s club volleyball team for four years. As a senior, he earned All-America honors at the national tournament as a middle blocker. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and marketing from Chico State, and also earned a Master of Arts degree in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University, Irvine.
Olson and his wife, Jill, and two sons, Van and Reid, reside in Monroe.
What others are saying about Charlie Olson:
“I believe he's ready. He has a passion for volleyball. He loves the game. He's a good family man. I think he'll bring a family atmosphere. That's what we have here at Sam Houston. He bought into the way we do things here. I think he really relished the relationships that we have with our team here. I really believe that he will keep that and transfer that over to ULM. We really care about our student athletes here at Sam Houston within the volleyball program. Academics are a high priority for us, and the game, for sure. You've always got to be competitive and have a constant drive to win that championship. I felt that Charlie was just about ready last year, and I believe with this opportunity knocking right in front of him, I think he'll do a wonderful job for ULM. I'm excited for him.”
- Brenda Gray, Sam Houston State University head volleyball coach
“I believe that Charlie has been ready to be a head coach for a long time now. He's a very good recruiter. He's a very good floor coach. I think he'll do really well in the Sun Belt.”
- David Rehr, University of Houston head volleyball coach
“I’m a big fan of Charlie’s. He’s a good one. He’s a great recruiter and brings high energy. He’s going to hit the ground running and do some great things. He’s a great family man, as well.”
- Tony Graystone, Texas Tech University head volleyball coach
“He's a family person. He's going to bring that family atmosphere to the team. He's a very hard worker and very dedicated to his craft. I think you'll see somebody that has great relationships with his players while also getting the most out of his players. I think his players are really going to enjoy playing for him. He's a super person and I think that's one thing that will come through right away when you meet him. He knows the game really well. I believe he gathered some experience while working for me. He was somebody who came in with experience already and we were able to use that. As he's gone through his career and worked for Coach Gray at Sam Houston State, he's got some great experiences under his belt that will help him be successful at ULM. I'm really happy for him. I think it's a great fit.”
- Rob Patrick, former University of Tennessee head volleyball coach
