Stuart Alve Olson Obituary

Stuart Alve Olson—beloved Taoist teacher, translator, author, and lifelong practitioner—passed peacefully from cancer on August 14th, 2025, in Phoenix, Arizona, surrounded by the love and care of his closest students and caretakers, Patrick Gross and Suzanne Nosko. Even through all he endured, his attitude and humor never wavered—he remained steady, clear, and trusting in the Tao until the very end.

Stuart’s spiritual path began in earnest at age 29, when he took refuge at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas under the Venerable Dharma Master Hsuan Hua. Soon after, he undertook a two-year bowing pilgrimage across the Midwest, prostrating every nine steps as a way of awakening body and spirit. He also studied with Dainin Katagiri Roshi at the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center before becoming a devoted disciple of Master T.T. Liang. At the same time, he was painstakingly teaching himself classical Chinese, with the help of his teachers, so he could translate ancient Taoist and Buddhist texts. 

Stuart lived with Master Liang for six years, and subsequently continued traveling and teaching by his side, often learning “by fire” as Liang would challenge him to test his martial skills publicly. Stuart’s bond with Master Liang grew so deep that Master Liang would happily refer to Stuart as his adopted son, a sentiment that holds a distinguished and highly esteemed honor in Chinese culture. Their connection encompassed everything from the discipline of study and practice, to the acceptance and love for each other that comes with time and affinity. As serious as they could be about practice, they gave just as much importance to laughter and enjoying each other's company which is what ultimately family is about. Master Liang would say that such connections can only be explained through karma. Stuart would go on to carry his teacher in his heart for the rest of his life showing that while some bonds are bound by blood, others may be bound by spirit and are of equal importance.

Over the next four decades, Stuart dedicated himself to the study and transmission of Taoism, meditation, Qigong, Tai Chi Chuan, Praying Mantis Kung Fu, Internal Alchemy, and the I Ching. He authored and translated more than forty books, including Being Daoist, Steal My Art: The Life and Times of Master T.T. Liang, and Embryonic Breathing. His work spanned Taoist philosophy, meditation, ritual and chanting, Internal Alchemy, martial arts, and sacred mathematics. In each area, he brought mastery-level understanding—not only as a scholar and translator, but as a living practitioner whose teachings were practical, down-to-earth, and transformative. When he taught, his words carried the energy of lived experience, inspiring and shifting those who listened.

Stuart’s contributions reached beyond scholarship. In the 1990s, he founded and directed the Institute of Internal Arts, where he taught Taijiquan, Qigong, and martial arts, and where Master Liang occasionally joined him to teach.

Stuart was featured in the British documentary on Taiji, Embracing the Tiger, in 2005. In 2010, Stuart, Patrick, and Lily Shank co-founded the Sanctuary of Tao, a non-profit organization dedicated to nourishing life through Taoist teachings and practice. He also co-founded Valley Spirit Arts, a publishing house devoted to bringing Taoist wisdom to a broader audience. In 2012, Stuart received the Into Mountains, Over Streams: International Journal of Qigong and Taiji Culture Reader’s Choice Award for “Best Author on Qigong.”

In 2017, Suzanne Nosko joined the team as a live-in student, working closely with Stuart and Patrick to translate their work into Spanish and creating artwork. In 2019, Stuart, Patrick, Lily, and Suzanne brought the Sanctuary of Tao online, offering courses to a global community of Taoists. Through the Sanctuary he offered 12 courses and over 300 recorded teachings, leaving behind a treasury of resources that continue to guide students on the Taoist path.

It is a rare and almost miraculous thing that a working-class young man from Minnesota, who dropped out of high school, became one of the foremost voices bringing Taoism to the West. Stuart was not speaking from academia or from religion—though he honored Taoist ritual and wrote on its traditions. He spoke from lived cultivation, from decades of practice, and from learning from great masters and teachers, which he then expressed in plain language that made Taoism practical, clear, and alive. In doing so, he carried forward the lineage of Taoist teacher and student that stretches from Master Liang back through Cheng Man-ch’ing and into the Taoist hermits of the mountains, who often passed their wisdom to only one or two disciples at a time. Through Stuart, that living current reached countless seekers, bridging ancient tradition with the modern world.

Stuart often quoted the words of his teacher, Master Liang: “The meaning of life is to leave this world in better condition than when you arrived.” He fulfilled this in two ways: by cultivating and strengthening his own spirit through decades of devoted practice, and by leaving the world better through his translations, teachings, and transmission—opening Taoism to the West, guiding students toward awakening, and inspiring lives of peace, wisdom, and compassion.

Though his passing leaves a great void in our hearts, Stuart always reminded us that the void is not empty—it is full of light. His light is inside and around us now, strengthening us and guiding us as we carry forward the Taoist practices he devoted his life to. His legacy lives on in his books and in his recorded teachings through the Sanctuary of Tao, and most of all, in the lives of those he touched with his warmth, steadiness, humor, and inspiration.

Stuart is preceded in death by his parents Alve and Claudia Olson and siblings Steven, Susan, and Spencer. He is survived by his son, Lee Jin Olson, age 32, and his wife Callin, Stuart's ex-wives Leliani (Lee's mother) and Lily Romaine Shank; sisters: Shirley (Bruce) Robbins, Ione (Michael) Holmgren; brothers: Scott (Cathy) Olson-Swope, John (Christy) Olson, and James Olson, as well as by his extended family, students, and friends around the world.

He will be profoundly missed by the Sanctuary of Tao community, and remembered as a master teacher, a loving friend, and a devoted cultivator of the Tao.

An online memorial service will be held on August 31st at 1:00 p.m. Central Time via Zoom (register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/K9CbU2qJRbO6QqWLYuxKpQ#/registration).

An in-person service will also be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota in October; details will be posted on the Sanctuary of Tao website.

In lieu of flowers, the family and community ask that friends honor Stuart’s memory with a donation to Sanctuary of Tao (https://www.sanctuaryoftao.org/donate) and by carrying forward the practices he devoted his life to—nourishing body, mind, and spirit, and leaving the world in better condition than when we arrived.