Rolfe Olsen's father worked in the packaging industry for 40 years, and her mother was a professional craftsman who specialized in metal enameling. Olsen got her start in business at age 6, managing the cash register for her mother's crafts business.
Olsen went on to study marketing and management at the University of South Carolina and obtained an MBA with a concentration in finance. She held a summer internship as an hourly operations employee on rotating shifts, transitioned to a customer service representative role post-graduation, spent 25 years in a variety of commercial positions, then moved into a general management role.
"My first job in the plastics industry was in strategic account leadership managing the relationship with a large, multinational food and beverage corporation. In this role, I managed a number of different packaging formats, including flexibles, paper and rigid plastics," she said. "Rigid plastics accounted for about 30 percent of this customer's portfolio, and that is how I got my start understanding the industry, technologies and challenges associated with plastic packaging."
Now as the president of the beverages business unit at Graham Packaging in South Carolina, Olsen is responsible for the safety of the company's 1,200 team members and the ongoing performance of the business. She creates and maintains a high-performing leadership team and is accountable for strategic direction, including sustainability, profitability and culture.
Olsen has spent 35 years in the packaging industry.
"I came along in the industrial manufacturing space before the value of diversity was understood. It has been frustrating, interesting, but also fun to be part of the evolution. I played a role by mentoring young people coming behind me and advocating for change by leading DEI initiatives," Olsen said.
Olsen has had a handful of mentors throughout her own career.
"These are people who I respect and admire for their ability to inspire and motivate people to reach their best potential under any circumstance. I am also a big proponent of passive mentoring or self-mentoring, which I would define as finding people in your life whom you hold in high regard and observe the things they do well, learn how they positively impact those around them and then figuring out how to integrate those qualities into your own leadership style," she said.
"My career progression has not been a straight line, nor has it been part of a larger plan," Olsen added. "I take a lot of pride in my work and my contributions to my team. My ability to perform well in many different roles and my willingness to take on difficult assignments has been the difference-maker for me."