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About Olsen Brothers Moving
Life is a journey. We'll help get you to your next step.
Olsen Brothers Moving is your neighborhood moving company. We’ve been moving Chicagoland families since 1922. As a family owned company, we continue to gain our customers’ trust in local moving and long distance moving. We’re proud of our long heritage and commitment to Chicago and the suburbs.
We offer a full range of moving services including local moving, long distance moving, packing, and storage. Our move consultants will help craft a customized moving plan, so your needs are met, while considering your budget, too. During your move, you’ll have one person dedicated to answering your questions, keeping you informed, and troubleshooting any issues that arise during and after your move. We think it’s important that we treat your move as personally as we would our own.
History of Olsen Brothers Moving
Olsen Brothers Moving started as an ice, coal, & moving company. Our founder, Leif Olsen, started the business out of the basement of his parents’ house in Chicago. Leif was just 20 years old and wanted to take control of the direction of his life. He worked diversified his services offerings early on, making home deliveries of coal during the cold Chicago winters and delivering ice during the summer, before the days of electric refrigeration. When he didn’t have ice deliveries to make, Leif used his coal truck to help families move. The original truck had hard rubber tires and wooden supports on the sides. A tarp would be draped over the wooden supports to keep the items clean and dry.
Leif’s business quickly became a family affair when his brother Norman Olsen joined as a partner. Shortly after, the business was able to move out of their parents’ basement and into a proper facility. This original location on North Central Avenue in Chicago was home to Olsen Brothers for 50 years. It underwent renovations to expand the functionality of the growing business by increasing office and warehouse space.
Olsen Brothers innovated to meet modern demand of the time. As heating fuel oil became more popular choice over coal for heating homes, Olsen Brothers sold the coal portion of the business and started delivering heating fuel in 1947. Of course, this took additional investment in the business with new styles of trucks being required. Olsen Brothers would continue to deliver fuel until 1975, when that portion of the business was sold to focus on moving and storage.
By now, the original Olsen Brothers’ sons were involved in the business, officially taking ownership in 1964. Richard Olsen, Sr. and Norman W. Olsen would together lead the company by strategically focusing exclusively on the moving side of the business. Around this time, Olsen Brothers Moving joined Mayflower Transit, a vanline of independent moving companies across America. This decision expanded Olsen Brothers’ capacity, so they could efficiently perform long distance moves for their customers.
In 1984, Olsen Brothers moved into the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights. Here they had a significantly larger warehouse, which allowed them to expand their storage services.
Today, the business is located in Hanover Park, IL and still services the entire Chicagoland area with quality local moving and long distance moving. Richard Olsen, Jr. continues to be involved as an operations manager, ensuring proper crews and equipment make it to our jobs on time.
