Dr. Janet Olson, DVM, DACVIM (Cardiology) is the founder of Veterinary Cardiology Specialists, established in 2010. She is one of the few board certified veterinary cardiology specialists in the country and offers her services in Minnesota and Iowa.
Armed with state-of-the-art diagnostic capabilities, she brings her services directly to veterinary clinics to work on-site with the patient, pet owner and primary veterinarian as a team. Dr. Olson’s interest lie in the diagnosis and treatment of congenital and acquired heart disease and management of heart failure of dogs and cats. She may be best known however, for her pioneering work developing and implementing a minimally invasive, per-catheter approach for the correction of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in dogs less than 3 kg at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine.
Dr. Olson graduated from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine in 1996. She then completed a year long rotating medicine and surgery internship at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine (1996-1997). She spent 1 year working in a general veterinary practice before settling in to an internal medicine private referral practice in the Twin Cities (1998-2007). In 2007 she was selected to become a cardiology resident at University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. She completed the three year residency in 2010 at which point she launched her business, Veterinary Cardiology Specialists, PLLC.
Her dedication for nurturing the human-animal bond does not stop with her cardiology services. In fact, it reaches far beyond the walls of any veterinary hospital. In 2004, her passion for community service and firefighters (her husband is a firefighter) lead her to develop Basic Animal Rescue Training (BART). BART is a 501c3, veterinary based, nonprofit organization that’s mission is to train and equip firefighters and other first responders how to safely address animals encountered in emergencies and disasters. BART also helps educate pet owners how to be prepared to best serve their pets and families in these tragic situations. BART has trained over 4,500 firefighters in the state of Minnesota and is currently offering its program in Iowa and Oklahoma as well.
For her work with BART, Dr. Olson has been highlighted in Ladies Home Journal and has received two prestigious awards including the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA) Veterinary Service Award in 2007, in recognition of her great service and support of the veterinary profession and the Forward Under 40, University of Wisconsin Alumni award in 2008 provided to select UW grads under age 40 who are making an impact on world.
It seems that founding the non-profit BART, becoming a board certified veterinary cardiology specialist, starting VCS and raising 2 beautiful young girls just wasn’t enough of challenge for Dr. Olson. In September of 2013 she stepped on roof of Africa having summited Mount Kilimanjaro at 19,341 feet with colleague Dr. Justine Lee, DVM, DACVECC, DABT, founder and CEO of VETgirl.
Dr. Olson is All Heart and available to serve you and your pets’ heart healthcare needs.
Veterinary Cardiology Specialists is a proud member of The Veterinary Consultants, a consortium of locally based veterinary specialty and referral services that provide advanced care for pets in the areas of surgery, dermatology, radiology and cardiology. If you work in a veterinary facility, sign up for our monthly newsletter >>.
