James C. Olson (Bradgate, Iowa, 1917 – August 17, 2005) was an American historian, educator and school administrator; he was president of the University of Missouri System. He had been a vice chancellor at the University of Nebraska and chancellor at University of Missouri-Kansas City.
With a doctorate from the University of Nebraska, he served during World War II as a historian for the United States Army Air Forces. Afterward he served for a decade as director of the Nebraska State Historical Society. He also taught at the University of Nebraska, publishing books on the state's history.