Gabe Olson

July 20, 2019
Assistant Professor, Lecturer
Building 72, Room 209
Phone: 801-581-7110
Biography

Gabriel Olson received his BS in Game Art and Design from the Art Institute of Portland in 2008 and his MFA in Entertainment Arts and Engineering from the University of Utah in 2013.  He got his first industry work in 2008 working as a modeling texture artist at Liquid Development and continued for the next eight years working in various industry positions for companies including 3d Central, Laika, Metaversatility, and Disney Interactive on projects for CodeMasters, Microsoft, Sony, General Mills, Nabisco, Mars, Ubisoft, and Disney. Published game titles include Damnation, Sony Home, Toy Story 3: The Video Game, Cars 2: The Video Game, Disney Infinity, Disney Infinity 2.0, and Disney Infinity 3.0.  He began his teaching career at Mt. Hood Community College in 2009 where he was instrumental in developing and teaching game arts curriculum. He taught 3d modeling at the Art Institute of Salt Lake City in 2011 prior to teaching at the University of Utah as an Associate Instructor from 2011-2016. Currently, Gabriel is an Assistant Professor/Lecturer at the University of Utah. He also advises the Producer and Artist Tracks for the Entertainment Arts and Engineering Master Games Studio program. He serves as the Interim Director for the ​Therapeutic Games and Apps Lab (The GApp Lab)​ for the year of 2019.

Courses Taught in FALL 2019
  • EAE 3100, Level Design, M LI 1735
  • EAE 4500, Senior Projects I, HEB 2004
  • EAE 4900, Special Topics: Game Streaming, AEB 306
  • EAE 6120, Game Projects II
  • EAE 6900, Special Topics: Game Streaming, AEB 306
Research
  • Innovation in Level Design
  • Educational Game Streaming
Education
  • MFA, University of Utah, Film and Media Arts, 2013
  • BS, Art Institute of Portland, Game Art and Design
Awards
  • Top Teachers Award, University of Utah 2016 – undergrad
  • Top Teachers Award, University of Utah 2017 – undergrad & graduate
  • Disney Infinity Named #1 Connect Toy of the Year – TOTY – February 2016
  • Disney Infinity 3.0 “Best Family Game” BAFTA, 03/16/2016
  • Disney Infinity 3.0 “Favorite Video Game” Kids Choice Awards, USA, 03/16/2016
  • Disney Infinity 2.0 Nominated for “Best Family Game of the Year” D.I.C.E., 03/18/2015
  • Disney Infinity 2.0 Nominated “Best of E3” E3, 03/03/2015
  • Disney Infinity Nominated “Favorite Video Game” Kids’ Choice Awards, USA, 01/01/2014
  • Disney Infinity Nominated “Game, Original Family” NAVGTR Awards, 01/01/2014
  • Disney Infinity Nominated “BAFTA Kids’ Vote – Game” BAFTA, 01/01/2014
  • Disney Infinity Nominated “Game Engineering” NAVGTR Awards, 01/01/2014
game Credits
  • Damnation
  • Sony Home
  • Toy Story 3: The Video Game
  • Cars 2: The Video Game
  • Disney Infinity
  • Disney Infinity 2.0
  • Disney Infinity 3.0.
Publications

Book Chapters

  1. Banks, J , Olson, G. & Bown, R. (2017). Avatar Assembled: The Social and Technical Anatomy of Digital Bodies. (pp. 247-255). Peter Lang Publishing. Published, 09/04/2017.