Kevin Olson
Software Architect & Developer
25+ years of hands-on software development and architecture experience
About
I bring 25+ years of hands-on software development and architecture experience to organizations that value pragmatism, mentorship, and delivering business value through thoughtful technology choices.
My career spans from building enterprise Java applications at financial firms to founding my own SaaS platform. I've consistently operated in high-trust, cross-functional roles where I've built software, designed infrastructure, and mentored teams while staying focused on what matters most: solving real problems with the right tools.
Experience
FirstLark LLC - Founder
July 2023 – Present
Founded and built MotionMade, a SaaS platform that helps organizations apply Robert's Rules of Order. Led the full product lifecycle—from architecture to deployment—using modern functional programming and cloud-native tools.
- Full-stack development with Clojure, Fulcro, React/React Native
- Cloud infrastructure on AWS (Amplify/Cognito)
- Database design with Datomic
- LLM integration for enhanced UX
- DevOps with containers (podman/docker)
Garda Capital Partners - Senior Solutions Architect
February 2016 – June 2023
Helped launch Garda Capital Partners, reporting directly to the CTO. Operated in a high-trust, cross-functional role building software, designing infrastructure, and supporting trading systems.
- Built and maintained custom software (Java, React) used by the whole firm
- Extensive database experience with relational and NoSQL stores
- Deployed and supported applications including Tableau server environment
- Designed and led implementation of firm's Disaster Recovery plan
- Evaluated and selected software vendors, provided architectural guidance
- Owned and maintained batch processing system (ActiveBatch)
- Provided team leadership and mentorship across multiple projects
Black River Asset Management - Director
May 2004 – January 2016
Held senior developer and consultant roles across multiple teams, delivering enterprise Java applications, developing and querying Oracle data models, and mentoring peers.
- Java and Scala based web applications
- Investor portal development
- REST API integration
- Team leadership and Java peer group leadership
- Oracle database design and optimization
Cargill - Senior IT Analyst
June 1998 – April 2004
Senior developer in Corporate IT department doing custom software development for various Cargill business units. Led Java peer group and contributed to target architectures.
- Java web applications for various business units
- Visual Basic client/server applications for quality metrics tracking
- Java peer group leadership across the company
- Target architecture development including Identity Management
Key Projects
MotionMade
SaaS Platform
Full-stack web application helping organizations apply Robert's Rules of Order.
- Backend: Clojure on JVM with Ring web server
- Frontend: Fulcro and React/React Native
- Data: Transit protocol, Datomic database
- Auth: JWT with Amazon Cognito OAuth 2.0
- Infrastructure: AWS EC2 with load balancing, Redis for blob storage
- Marketing: Static sites hosted on Cloudflare
Tempo
Portfolio Analytics Platform
Full-stack web application displaying near real-time portfolio analytics for trading firm.
- Frontend: React/Next.js
- Backend: C# microservices
- Data: PostgreSQL for app data, Oracle for business data
- Auth: IdentityServer connected to Active Directory
T4 - Third Thursday Tech Talk
Developer Community Initiative
Planned and hosted monthly technology events for developers, fostering knowledge sharing and community building within the organization.
- Regular presentations from industry conferences
- Google Tech Talks and R programming language sessions
- Cross-team knowledge sharing and mentorship
Technical Skills
Languages
- Clojure
- Java
- Scala
- JavaScript/TypeScript
- C#
- Python
Frontend
- React/React Native
- Fulcro
- Next.js
- HTML/CSS
- JavaScript
Backend & Data
- Datomic
- PostgreSQL
- Oracle
- Redis
- REST APIs
- Microservices
Cloud & DevOps
- AWS (Amplify, Cognito, EC2)
- Docker/Podman
- Cloudflare
- TeamCity
- ActiveBatch
Tools & Platforms
- Tableau
- JIRA/Confluence
- BitBucket
- Grafana
- Elastic Stack
Let's Connect
I'm always interested in discussing technology, architecture, and opportunities to create value through thoughtful software solutions.