The Life and Times of Master Stuart Alve Olson

Stuart Alve Olson—beloved Taoist teacher, translator, author, and lifelong practitioner—passed peacefully from cancer on August 14, 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 Alve Olson was born in 1950 in Moorehead, Minnesota, to a large family with nine children. His father was a farmer until the family moved to Minneapolis when Stuart was seven, and his father went to work in a factory. He dropped out of high school to pursue his music career; he was a talented guitarist. Throughout his youth, he had out-of-body experiences that caused him to seek answers, reading spiritual books like the I Ching in his early 20s.

Stuart’s spiritual path began in earnest at age 29, when he read The Sutra in 42 Sections by Venerable Dharma Master Hsuan Hua, and he immediately decided to move to California and take refuge at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas under Hsuan Hua.

After his time at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, 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 Katagiri Roshi at the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center before he met and became a devoted disciple of Taiji Master T.T. Liang, who was his Taoist teacher. As he learned Taiji, Qigong, and martial arts with Master Liang, he was also 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 T.T. 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. 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 translated and wrote over 40 books on Taoism, meditation, Qigong, Tai Chi Chuan, Praying Mantis Kung Fu, Internal Alchemy, and the I Ching. 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.

In 1990, he married Leiliani, and they had a child together, Lee Jin Olson, in 1993.

In 2005, Stuart was featured in the British documentary on Taiji, Embracing the Tiger. In 2010, Stuart, Patrick, and Lily co-founded the non-profit Taoist organization Sanctuary of Tao and publishing house Valley Spirit Arts. 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 create artwork. In 2019, Stuart and the team brought the Sanctuary of Tao online, offering courses to a global community of Taoists. Through the Sanctuary, he offered 12 courses and 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 practiced Taoist ritual and published a book on the subject. He learned from great masters and teachers and from translating and understanding ancient Chinese Taoist texts that very few Westerners can read. He applied his learnings through decades of practice of internal arts and being a living example of Taoist philosophy. He then expressed his knowledge in plain language that made Taoism practical, clear, and paradigm-shifting.

He carried forward the lineage of Master Liang, who learned from Cheng Man-ch’ing. In this, he was a living continuation of the teacher-student tradition in Taoism, where teachers passed on 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 teachings and 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 hearts 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; his ex-wife, Leiliani (Lee’s mother); sisters Shirley (Bruce) Robbins and Ione (Michael) Holmgren; brothers Scott (Cathy) Olson-Swope, John (Christy) Olson, and James Olson.

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 was held on August 31, and you can find the recording on our blog. 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.