Kathy Heflin Olson is an Owensboro native and began her musical training at the age of six with piano and the clarinet at the age of ten with the band at Masonville Elementary School. The Daviess County Public School system continued to provide excellent musical mentors.
She is an alumnus of the Owensboro Youth Orchestra and joined the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra as Clarinet and Bass Clarinetist in 1974, during her Freshman year at Brescia University. Kathy served as Bass Clarinetist of the Orquestra Sinfonica de Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil from 1978-1980. Her principal clarinet teachers include Ross Paulus and Walter Alves de Souza.
Since moving back to Owensboro, Kathy has subbed with other regional orchestras, and was active in chamber music as the violist of the Commonwealth String Quintet for over thirty years. Performing opera and musicals as a pit orchestra musician is one of her favorite musical activities.
A biologist, Kathy joined the staff of the Owensboro Museum of Science and History in 1986 as Curator of Collections. In 2007, she became the museum’s Chief Executive Officer. She retired from full-time work in January 2025 and became a part-time Collections Curator and educator with the museum.
Kathy is married to OS Principal Double Bassist Gregory Olson, whom she met while they were both playing in the Owensboro Symphony as college students. They have one son Nate, who along with his wife Priscilla Enner are parents of the Olson’s two beloved grandsons, Cameron and William.