Former USU department head pleads guilty to $76,766 theft 

*Editor’s Note: This article was updated on Oct. 11 at 12:20pm to correct Douglas Anderson’s title from new head of USU’s data and analytics department to Dean of the Huntsman School of Business.

On Sept. 28, David Olsen, former head of the Department of Data Analytics & Information Systems at Utah State University, pled guilty to stealing $76,766 from USU.  

According to the First District Court’s documents, Olsen waived his right to a fair trial. The hearing’s minutes state the prosecution would not require Olsen to serve jail time if he paid back the required funds.  

“The first thing I did was try to be as cooperative as possible. I offered from day one to pay back whatever number (the theft) was,” Olsen said.  

Olsen said he began taking computer equipment and selling it during 2016 and 2017. He declined to be on the record for his explanation of why.  

USU asked him to resign during March of 2020, and he started work at Utah Tech University that fall as an assistant professor, Olsen said.  

According to Olsen, a lawsuit was filed against him this June, followed by a USU Police Department investigation. He said he was charged to pay back three times the money he stole.  

Olsen said USU had a spreadsheet recording all the equipment he stole, but said the amount he was charged with was “grossly overstated.” Despite this, he was still willing to pay it. 

When asked to comment on the hearing, the USU Police Department referred the Statesman to Amanda DeRito, USU associate vice president for strategic communications.  

“The university is not providing additional information on the case,” DeRito said over an email.  

Douglas Anderson, the Dean of the Huntsman School of Business, also referred the Statesman to DeRito, who again declined to comment.  

Andrew Crane, the Cache County deputy attorney and prosecutor of Olsen, was also not willing to be on the record.  

According to Judge Brian Cannell, on behalf of the Utah State Auditor’s Office, Olsen’s theft was “significant and obviously selfish.”   

Cannell also said Olsen should apologize to USU’s taxpayers.  

David Perry, the defendant’s attorney, said Olsen had credit from a lender, as well as the full amount to give back to USU. 

One way Olsen planned on making amends was through helping his students at Utah Tech University learn in new ways. According to Olsen, he made a few YouTube videos to help his students learn programming and other parts of his curriculum.   

“I wanted to make amends, even in my mind,” Olsen said.  

-Jenny.Carpenter@usu.edu

Featured photo courtesy of David Olsen LinkedIn