Born and raised in Pierre, South Dakota, poet and educator, Kara Olson earned a BA at The University of Minnesota and an MFA from Warren Wilson’s Program for Writers.

Kara's poetry has been recognized through various honors, including receiving The Sewanee Review poetry prize for her poem "Last Night," selected by Donika Kelly, and a Jerome Foundation-supported residency at the Anderson Center. Her poems have appeared in Grist: A Journal of The Literary Arts, Sinister Wisdom, and other publications. Her debut manuscript, The Order of Blooming, was a finalist for the 2025 National Poetry Series and the 2025 Hollis Summers Poetry Prize and is currently seeking publication. 

She lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is a professor of English at North Hennepin Community College, where she has worked for over a decade to advance educational equity and co-learn with students pursuing both academic success and meaningful self-expression. The task she asks of her students is vulnerable: to translate the ideas they read, and the language inside themselves, onto the page. Honoring this vulnerability in her students, and in herself, is a pillar of her teaching and writing philosophy.