Tim Olsen Makes the 2025 Photonics 100 List

Omega Optical is excited to announce that Tim Olsen has been selected for the Photonics 100 list of 2025!

Tim is one of the few Photonics technologists who can really claim to have done it all. Tim’s early career consisted of lots of, as he puts it, “hard core engineering” with lots of designing and troubleshooting for various applications. He was hired as a junior optical design engineer at Thor Labs before being promoted to General Manager after just three months with the company. This was the beginning of the management aspect of his career, and he proved to be a successful leader as he earned an Over and Above award as well as an Eye on Quality 20/20 award in this position.

What Tim brings to the table other than an impressive resume and experience set, is a humble approach to everything he does. His leadership style includes technical troubleshooting and investigations without interrogation, deep curiosity for customer pain points with a listen-first approach; great management of his people and projects without being overzealous. One of his favorite questions is “Why?” as he likes to fully understand the mindset of his team members before making decisions. He is known for his good attitude in the workplace, whistling through the halls and being the first to crack a joke in a meeting. Walking the trade show floor with Tim is like walking with the Mayor of the optics and photonics industry, he has friends in every other booth that are quick to offer a kind word about working with him or engage in thoughtful conversations about current or past projects.

Tim has always kept innovation as a core value in his career, focusing on process improvement and new product development while maintaining an office culture of respect and collaboration. The team at Omega Optical has no doubt that he is deserving of this recognition, and we are grateful to have Tim at the helm of our engineering!

Please join us in celebrating Tim’s nomination to this esteemed list! See Tim’s article and check out the other members of the Photonics 100 list!