How Old Is Lute Olson? Lute Olson Birthday
Lute Olson was born on September 22, 1934 and is 91 years old now.
Birthday: September 22, 1934
How Old - Age: 91
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Lute Olson - Biography
Robert Luther "Lute" Olson (born September 22, 1934) is a retired American men's basketball coach. He was most recently head coach at the University of Arizona for 25 years. He was also head coach at the University of Iowa for nine years and California State University, Long Beach for one season. Olson was known for player development, and many of his former players have gone on to impressive careers in the NBA after having played under him. On October 23, 2008, Olson announced his retirement from coaching.
On December 6, 2007, it was announced that Olson would miss the entire 2007-08 season. The following day, it was announced that Olson had filed for divorce from his wife of four years, Christine. On December 18, Arizona announced that Olson planned to return for the 2008-09 season, and also named O'Neill as Olson's designated successor upon his retirement.
Kevin O'Neill publicly stated that he was still relying on a promise to be Lute Olson's successor, and that he would return to UA to be an assistant for the 2008–09 season. However, during an April 2008 press conference in which he appeared visibly annoyed and defensive with reporters, Olson announced that O'Neill would never coach at the University of Arizona again. This marked the second time in a year that Olson had reneged on a promise to promote an assistant coach, following his dismissal of Jim Rosborough. O'Neill later accepted an assistant coaching position with the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA, and was subsequently the head coach at USC. Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood also said assistant and former Wildcat guard Miles Simon (a key player on Olson's 1997 national championship team) would no longer coach.
Olson married Roberta "Bobbi" Russell in 1953. They were married for 47 years and had five children. Bobbi Olson died on January 1, 2001 of ovarian cancer, aged 65. The basketball court at UA is named the Lute and Bobbi Olson Court in her honor.
In 2003, Olson married Christine Jack Toretti. On December 6, 2007, Olson filed for divorce from his second wife, Christine. Olson married Kelly Pugnea in April, 2010.
