Muddy Sneakers welcomes new Executive Director

We are excited to announce that Muddy Sneakers has a new executive director! Ryan Olson took over as Executive Director in January 2012.

Ryan brings a great deal of experience to the position, most recently working with The Nature Conservancy in Charleston, SC, as Assistant Director of Land Protection. Ryan has a Bachelor’s Degree from The University of the South and a Law Degree from the Charleston School of Law. He believes that one of the primary focuses of the modern environmental movement should be on the disconnect between today’s youth and the natural world.

Before returning to the southeastern US, Ryan traveled extensively including time spent in New Zealand and Colorado. His love of western NC was founded at an early age through summers spent with grandparents in Franklin, NC and as a camper at Falling Creek and Gwynn Valley camps near Brevard. He now resides in Pisgah Forest with his wife, Maria, and their two daughters, Anderson and Clara. The family enjoys spending as much time as possible in the outdoors biking, hiking, climbing, and exploring all that Western North Carolina has to offer.