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Bernard 'Bernie' Olson is Renshaw's supervisor at Wilkes.

History[]

Ice Station[]

As James Renshaw's supervisor at Wilkes Ice Station, Olson was required to observe his work involving ice core drilling; however, Renshaw knew that Olson was secretly paying more attention to his work than he should have.

Eventually, Renshaw's drill hit an upsurged layer of ice from three hundred million years ago, giving him the chance to study the ancient atmosphere. Soon after, Renshaw also struck metal with his drill. This led to Olson hurriedly beginning writing a scientific article, in which he would claim to have made the discoveries himself, intending to use his connections to ensure that he could get the article out long before Renshaw possibly could. The two argued fiercely over Olson's intent of plagiarism, which was overheard by the rest of the Wilkes residents, with Renshaw ultimately storming out.

Immediately after the argument, Sarah Hensleigh, a covert operative for the Intelligence Convergence Group, attempted to dissuade Olson from publishing his paper about the discovery, since the ICG would want to know about it first. Failing to convince him, Sarah decided to kill Olson instead, using an injector filled with snake venom to ensure that he couldn't be revived; as he was dying, Olson's eyes became bloodshot, and he also experienced lock-jaw, which caused the research supervisor to bite off his own tongue. Sarah knew that, given their heated argument, Renshaw would be assumed to be Olson's killer.

When the remaining residents discovered Olson's body, as Sarah had hoped, Renshaw was accused of murdering him, albeit believing that Olson had been injected with industrial-strength drain-cleaner. As Renshaw holed himself up in his room, the Wilkes scientists locked him inside and sent out a radio call requesting military police to arrest him, and Olson's body was placed in a storage freezer.

A few days later, after Renshaw saved Schofield's life, he asked the Marine to help prove his innocence, asking that he examine Olson's body when he got the chance. Schofield managed to do so in the minutes before they had to evacuate the station when he happened across Olson's body, discovering his bloodshot eyes and severed tongue. Schofield and Renshaw later discussed the symptoms Olson had displayed, and Schofield came to realise that Renshaw might have been innocent after all.

When Sarah eventually revealed herself as an ICG agent, she admitted to killing Olson when asked by Renshaw.

Olson's body was soon destroyed when a nuclear missile struck Wilkes.

Trivia[]

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