Lexington mourns Deputy Olson’s death

Master Deputy Jillian Olson always wanted to be one of the “helpers.”

“Jillian knew she wanted to be in law enforcement — even as a small child,” said Pastor Frank Anderson, her godfather and a longtime family friend. “I think she really wanted to be that person in the community who was a helper. In our generation of parenting as the world got more dangerous, there was always the admonition to ‘find the helpers’ — find the person in uniform.”

Olson, a 29-year-old Lexington resident, drowned in Lake Murray while participating in a Lexington County Sheriff’s Department dive team training exercise on Thursday, July 30.

Anderson, the pastor of St. Michael Lutheran Church in Lexington, has known Olson all her life. As pastor of her family’s church in Glenview, Illinois, where Olson was born, Anderson baptized her and even helped parents Jim and Molly Olson choose Jillian’s middle name — Hope.

“She had a deep, abiding faith,” Anderson said. “It was not a public, showy, splashy kind of faith. She grew up in a family that took their religious life very seriously, and I think she went into every situation with a sense of quiet determination to do the best job she could do.”

Olson’s funeral was scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 5, at Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Lexington, followed by a burial with full law enforcement honors at nearby St. Michael Lutheran Church.

“Our hearts are broken by the loss of a valuable member of the sheriff’s department,” Sheriff Jay Koon said in a statement. “Jillian exemplified commitment and service. She faithfully carried out her duties and selflessly worked to make those around her better.”

‘She was always a leader’

Olson volunteered in public service as a teenager and completed an internship with the Buffalo Grove Police Department in Illinois before entering law enforcement.

“She wanted to do this her whole life,” Anderson said. “She was always a leader.”

Olson graduated from Western Illinois University in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement and justice administration, according to the sheriff’s department. She completed a master’s degree in student personnel services from the institution in 2021.

A national search for career opportunities brought Olson to Lexington County, where her grandparents and parents would later move. Anderson said the young deputy quickly became an integral part of her community.

“She loved to serve,” he said. “She loved water. She loved the lake. She loved the lifestyle here. She was not looking on the horizon for anything else.”

Olson has been a member of the LCSD dive team since 2024. She joined the sheriff’s department in 2021, serving as a patrol deputy and later as a warrant deputy. She was promoted to master deputy in the sheriff’s department warrant division in 2025.

Sheriff Koon said Olson improved the LCSD’s operations and training for warrant service, “on her own time, developing reference guides and document templates for use by judicial service deputies.”

 Olson received the sheriff’s department’s tactical operations support award in 2023. She was scheduled to receive the department’s five-year honorable service award this month.

The Lexington County Sheriff’s Foundation named Olson the outstanding judicial services deputy of the year at its annual awards banquet last spring.

“Jillian’s dedication to her community and department is well-documented with awards and recognitions,” Koon said. “She’ll be most remembered for what she did with no fanfare. Her decision to join our dive team is just one example of her going above and beyond.”

Olson chose to become a rescue diver in order to find another opportunity to serve.

“The dive team was something that she really found challenged her in a way,” Anderson said. “She really enjoyed the people. She really enjoyed the challenge of it. She loved diving, she loved the whole experience of being in the water. She took every opportunity to increase her skills, and this is what was happening last Thursday.”

‘A long, long, long road’

Since Olson’s death, expressions of grief and support have poured in from throughout South Carolina and across the country. Olson’s patrol vehicle was displayed outside the Lexington County Law Enforcement Complex, where it was quickly covered in bouquets of flowers, stuffed animals and memorial gifts.

Anderson said the deputy’s loss has deeply affected fellow law enforcement officers and public safety workers.

“I think we have to really understand that they’re suffering as much as anyone, but they are having to suffer in a totally different way,” he said. “Their call to respond didn’t end with this tragedy. My heart goes out to all of them participating in the sheriff’s department and in all law enforcement.”

Anderson said the loss has been painful for Olson’s family, particularly her parents and three siblings.

“They are really struggling,” he said. “They’ve got a great faith and they know that she was in a place that God had provided for her, but it’s going to be a long, long, long road.”

Olson died before meeting her new niece. Her nephew, who called her “Aunt Bebe,” was “a bright spot” in her life, Anderson said.

“He thought that she hung the moon,” Anderson said. “He thought that she could solve any problem there was by being a law enforcement officer.”

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources is investigating Olson’s death with assistance from the S.C. Law Enforcement Division, Capt. Adam Myrick said in a news release. Myrick said the Lexington County Coroner's Office is conducting its own investigation to determine Olson's cause and manner of death.

The sheriff thanked the state and local officials tasked with investigating Olson’s death.

“I am grateful to DNR, SLED and our county coroner for the sensitive and respectful way they've handled everything,” Koon said. “I would also like to express my thanks to the countless public safety agencies that responded without hesitation from across the whole state to help us in our time of need.”