Mike Olcott is a Christian, a conservative and a Republican running for State Representative. A fifth generation Texan, he was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas. In high school he excelled in Track and Field and learned to hunt on the 4 Stars Ranch in Parker County.
He earned a B.S. in Biology from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN and planned to become a physician like his father. However, in medical school he had the opportunity to study under three different Nobel Prize Laureates and developed a new passion for scientific research. Mike decided to leave medical school and pursue his interest in medical research. After earning a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Kentucky, he spent more than 15 years conducting research that could one day help stop or slow the growth of cancer cells.
Mike served as a postdoctoral fellow at Stockholm University in Sweden and Oregon State University where his research focused on the detection of nucleotide-binding sites on enzymes critical for the metastasis of cancer cells. During this time, he authored or co-authored 9 peer-reviewed scientific publications.
Frustrated by politicians who would not take the necessary steps to secure our border, Mike joined the Minutemen in 2005, a volunteer group committed to border security. Working with Americans from all walks of life, Mike spent over 50 nights on the US-Mexican border as an extra set of eyes and ears for the U.S. Border Patrol to help stop the flow of illegal drugs and illegal immigrants into our nation.
Mike and his wife Marika, also a research scientist, moved back to Texas following his retirement from academic research. Since that time Mike has organized conservative activists throughout North Texas to reduce taxes, limit the size of government and elect conservative leaders. He served as a Parker County Republican Precinct Chair (2014-2021) and is Co-Founder of Parker County Conservatives, a grassroots organization which educates and motivates conservative Republican voters.
Mike also served on the State Republican Executive Committee where he made election integrity a top priority.
Mike and his wife Marika live in the country outside of Aledo and are members of Willow Park Baptist Church. Mike met Marika at Stockholm University where she pursued a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology. Marika’s doctoral and postdoctoral research in the fields of immunology and virology has been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. In their spare time Mike and Marika love traveling and spending time with friends.