Gil Olsen

Gil was born in San Luis Obispo, California in 1948, while his father was finishing up at Cal Poly. He made his profession of faith in Jesus Christ at the age of 11 while attending Pomona First Baptist Church and was baptized on his twelfth birthday. He grew up around the state, finally settling in Riverside, CA where he attended Ramona High School. His senior year, the family moved to Hemet and Gil graduated from Hemet High School in 1966.

Following high school, Gil attended Mt. San Jacinto College for one semester and then transferred to Arizona College of the Bible after coming to the realization that God was leading him toward full-time ministry. He transferred to Biola College in La Mirada, CA for his junior and senior years and followed up with a Master's Degree in Systematic Theology from Talbot Theological Seminary in 1978. The next several years saw Gil working on a doctorate at Denver Seminary and he graduated in 1993, having completed his degree in pastoral ministries with a dissertation on Learning Styles.

Gil married Charyla Bridges in 1970, and they have two children. Cara married Brian Bergeron and they have four kids: Brandt, Gresham, Seth and Evangeline. They move around the country regularly with the U.S. military. Aaron lives in San Leandro with his wife Shauna and his two children, CJ and Abby, and works for Cisco Systems.

Gil has been in ministry since 1970 when he began as a youth pastor in the L.A. Basin. He moved to San Jacinto in 1972 and has been in the valley ever since. In 1976, Bible Fellowship Church started in the midst of a grapefruit grove; and in November of that year, Gil was asked to pastor BFC where he has remained until December of 2015.

In the community Gil has been actively involved in the Pastors' Prayer Fellowship which he helped to initiate in 1994. The Pastor's Prayer Fellowship meets weekly and seeks to bring valley pastors together to share their ups and downs with one another and pray together, and Gil has provided leadership for that group for many years.

Gil's heart is to see the Church move out by taking the Gospel to the unreached parts of the world. He has presented training seminars for pastors in Australia and Mongolia and Buryatia and has a dream of being able to continue to train pastors who have not had the educational advantage.

For the record: Gil loves Angel baseball and USC football.