Kao (Karen) Olsen's journey through life came to an end on December 14th, 2025. She was born to Ann (d 2019) and Francis Olsen (d 2019) in June of 1956 at Swedish Hospital in Seattle Washington. She is survived by her partner and caregiver of thirty years, Mark Johnson, her daughters, Katia (Leiselsen) Tierstein (Jason), their child, Zosia; Jasmine Leiselsen (Chad Madgby); Her cousins Eric and Beth Wolgemouth; and her cousins Karl, Kaurin (Karen Langlois), and Nola Olsen (Mike Wheldon).

After Kao's birth, her father Fran moved the young family to Anacortes, where he began a career at the new Shell Refinery. She had an idyllic childhood. Her summers were spent on Guemes Island, where her family had a summer cabin. She befriended many of the artists who lived there. Many of her school friend's families also "Summered" on Guemes Island. They would form as she described "a mob of kids who would drift from one place to the next, always counting on being served a meal wherever they ended up at dinner time".

Kao had a love of wildlife, including befriending an octopus who she would hand feed in one of the tide pools. She learned that it's not always good to "tame" wildlife when she found it dead on the beach one day. A horse, several dogs and cats, a crow, a turtle, and a rabbit were among the pets she had, going well into adulthood. She also had a love of shiny things, not because of their value, but just because of their beauty. She had a shadowbox on the coffee table in her home filled with old costume jewelry which her partner Mark called "Kao's crow box". She wore numerous rings, bracelets, necklaces and earrings.

After graduation, Kao attended Washington State University in Pullman, WA. It was during orientation week she decided to sign up for a "first jump" skydiving excursion. This decision had consequences that followed her for the rest of her life. This was in 1973, before there were tandem jumps. Her first jump was a static line jump, where a tether connected to the airplane deploys the parachute.

Kao's parachute failed to deploy fully, becoming what is called a streamer, slowing her decent so that she hit the ground at what has been calculated as 90mph. In recounting the accident, she said she never lost consciousness, and remembered trying to get the shrouds untangled. She landed on a slope in loose Paloose soil which had just been plowed. These factored into her miraculous survival.

Kao was, however, left with a back that was broken in six places, and she had to endure numerous surgeries, each one less effective than the other, over the course of ten years or so. She was able to walk and even run again. She married in 1981 to Dwight Leisle and in 1984 gave birth to twin girls, Katia and Jasmine. After recovering from a difficult delivery, Kao enrolled at the University of Washington and earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. She was hired by the US Navy as a civil servant, working on the submarine and surface fleet to mitigate sound propagation. At the time, she was the only female to ride on Submarines (think Kelly McGillis' role in the movie "Top Gun"). She was able to carry on this career until the legacy of her skydiving accident reared its head.

Kao was always generous with her time. for twelve years, she donated her time as a staff member for Camp Ukandu, a camp sponsored by the American Cancer Society for kids and teenagers ages 8-18 who are dealing with cancer, either personally or a sibling. She was in charge of arts and crafts and loved working with children from many backgrounds. She used to say, "We would laugh all day and cry all night". Finally, it became hard for Kao to travel the distance to the camp.

While the surgeries and treatments were successful in enabling Kao to walk and function, what could not be repaired was intractable pain. She worked for the government for ten years before the pain became too much to carry on her duties. At the same time, her marriage to Dwight came to an end and Kao was left in the care of Mark Johnson, whom she met while performing in a community theater production of "The Rainmaker". Mark stayed by her side for thirty years, setting aside any personal career goals to become her caregiver through the D.S.H.S. program designed to keep patients out of nursing home situations.

In 2004, Kao and Mark decided to move to Anacortes, in order to be close to her parents who were getting on in age. In 2008, the year Kao qualified for full disability, her brother Jim Olsen died suddenly, leaving behind his wife Dorothy (Manhout) Olsen (Dottie) who now lives in Gig Harbor, WA.

Through Kao and Mark's years together, life seemed to always get better, no matter the circumstances, but always with the specter of chronic pain. Through it all, Kao faced life with a beautiful smile, always generous with her love, taking Mark's family into her wide embrace as her own.

On the Sunday that she passed away, the afternoon was spent watching Christmas displays with Mark on YouTube while listening to Christmas music. Christmas was her favorite time of year. She was enjoying the holiday decorations Mark had put out, and was very happy, remarking on how "We are living our best life right now".

Kao passed away that evening, apparently in her sleep, very calmly and peacefully. It was the way that Kao had wanted to go. Finally free of pain since she was eighteen years old.

To share memories of Kao, please visit www.evanschapel.com/obituary/kao-olsen