About
Curtis Olafson has served in the political arena for many years. He has served as District Vice Chair and Chair and then in the State Senate from 2006-2012 representing the former District 10 in northeast North Dakota.
Biography
Curtis Olafson was raised on the land homesteaded by his pioneer immigrant grandparents who came from Iceland in 1883. He joined the family farming, ranching and earthmoving construction business as a partner at age 16 and retired in 2019. He currently is owner and partner in two consulting businesses. He is a graduate of NDSU with a Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science.
He became involved in the political arena at a young age in his local Republican Party and became District Vice Chairman, followed by many years of service as District Chairman. He also served on committees for the State Republican Party.
In 2006, he was appointed to the District 10 State Senate seat and was elected to the seat in 2008 and served until 2012. He was twice named the “Legislator of the Year” by the North Dakota Township Officers Association for his dedication to grassroots government and local control. In his three legislative sessions, he was the prime sponsor of 26 bills, 23 of which passed.
He is also active in national politics, including serving as the National Spokesman for the National Debt Relief Amendment, the Vice President of State Alliances for the Compact for America Balanced Budget Amendment effort, and as an Article V Educational Consultant for the Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force. He has traveled the United States extensively educating state legislators on the Article V Amendment process and is widely known in the national Article V Advocacy community.
Since 2019, he has done extensive work on opioid litigation consulting and within the consortium of the three large national law firms he represents, he signed on 29 counties and cities in North Dakota for the National Multi District Opioid Litigation. This is projected to become one of the largest legal settlements in the history of the United States.
In 2004, he was married to Björk Eiríksdóttir, a native of Iceland. She passed away in 2021 after a 7-year battle with cancer.
Curtis has two children and 3 stepchildren. His daughter Renata is an Assistant State’s Attorney in Cass County and previously served as the Fargo City Prosecutor. Renata is married to Greg Selzer and has two sons, Gunnar and Gavin. His son Drew is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the United Valley Bank system, headquartered in Cavalier, North Dakota, with multiple additional branches. Drew is married to Samantha Swanson Olafson and has two daughters, Clara and Halle. His stepdaughter Linda is a Senior Fin Tech Program Manager for MVB Bank, headquartered in Bridgeport,West Virginia. Linda lives and works from her home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota where she lives with her husband, Tom Frey, and children August, Iris and Lilja. She also owns and operates Blikk Photography. His stepsons Heimir and Einar live and work in Iceland. Curtis is a private pilot since 1972 and an aircraft owner.
​
