Olson received her bachelor's degree in chemistry at the University of Delaware in 1967, with honors and distinction. During her studies, she received the A.C.S. (Delaware Section) Student Award. Olson obtained her Ph.D. in 1971 at Stanford University, where she studied the configurational statistics of polynucleotide chains. Her advisor was polymer scientist Paul J. Flory, who would win the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1974.