Swedish free skier Jon Olsson is the definition of living the dream. As well as being an official Red Bull athlete, he’s a professional free skier and alpine ski racer. Olson was introduced to skiing at a young age and took to it like a duck to water. At the age of 15 he left the ski racing academy and swapped his race skies for a pair of ‘Twin-tip’ skies, a special type of ski used by freestylers. When Jon was still at the academy he saw fellow skiers inventing all kinds of tricks on the skies. Jon knew, this is what he was meant to do.
Since making the switch, Olsson has become one of the leading figures in the world of freestyle skiing and is the pioneer of several very difficult tricks that a normal person would not even dream of. The tricks have all very scientific names such as A D-spin 720 into a flatspin also known as the DJ Flip, a double switch rodeo 1080 a.k.a the Hexo flip, a double flatspin 900 (Kangaroo flip) and a switch cork 720 to flatspin 540 also known as The Tornado.
As well as being a true original, inventing many tricks, Olsson has a packed trophy cabinet having won multiple freestyle events, including 9 podium places at the prestigious Winter ‘X-Games’.
In recent years Olsson has picked up ski racing again and it so happens that his brother Hans Olsson is a professional Alpine ski racer and therefore Jon knows a lot of people from the racing circuit. A few years ago he made a bet with his brothers teammate Jens Byggmark that if he could secure a place on the Swedish Alpine racing team and qualify for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, Byggmark would have to pay 50.000SEK, about £5000, to Jon. 
Olsson has unfortunately lost the bet and won’t be seen in Sochi, at least not as an athlete.
Back home in Sweden, Olsson organises an annual ski competition. The competitors get one week with a film crew and whoever comes back with the coolest and most extreme video wins the contest.
When Olsson is not on the skies, he spends his time playing golf in Monaco, his home base. Moreover, he competes in the annual ‘Gumball 3000’ a race around Europe with ‘boys and their toys’ involving some of the finest super cars money can buy.
Olsson is the epitome of extreme sports man, his lifestyle and his achievements definitely elevate him to the status of a demi-god within the fledgling world of freestyle skiing . His Youtube videos, with the help of Red Bull are jaw-dropping, both in terms of the skills on show and the stunning backdrop that snow covered mountain ranges provide. It’s fair to say that Jon Olsson is truly living the dream!
Red Bull Project 