Olofson, Gustaf Adolf Waldemar, merchant – Portland – born in Stockholm on June 19, 1876. He is the son of property owner S. G. Olofson. After completing his education, in a public school as well as with a private tutor, Mr. Olofson entered the business world in 1892. He worked as an office clerk and as an agent at an insurance agency until 1897. He then traveled to England to study business conditions there, and to learn the language properly. In England he worked, among other things, as the secretary of the Scandinavian division of the Christian Youth Association. In 1900, he returned to Helsingborg and opened an office representing the Queensland Government. This was terminated in 1902, when the Australian states united under one government. Mr. Olofson returned to Stockholm and started working in the book publishing business and was the treasurer of the Vacuum Oil Company. From 1904 to 1908 he owned a store that sold imported goods in Kalmar, and owned shares in movie theaters in Oskarshamn. Due to losses caused by the financial recession in 1908, he decided to leave Sweden. On September 1, 1908, he arrived in New York and almost immediately found employment with Anton J. Anderson Co., at 47 E. 59th St., which is the largest Scandinavian jewelry firm in America. Mr. Olofson quickly became the firm’s secretary and treasurer. Due to poor health he moved out west and decided, after visiting Denver and a number of other places, to settle in Portland, Oregon, and start a store there. In 1900 he became a member of the Freemason order in London. He married Kristina Nilson from Helsingborg, who has been a nurse.
