As many of our clients have noticed, Tom Farm has been working his way closer to full retirement over the last couple of years and has now decided to make it official. Tom retired from Olsen Thielen as a Principal and shareholder on September 1, 2016, after a long and distinguished career.
Tom graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota with a major in accounting. He began his career in public accounting as a junior accountant at Olsen Thielen in 1971. Tom rose through the ranks and became a Principal at Olsen Thielen in September of 1978. During Tom’s time with the firm, he ended up transitioning from his roots in financial statement auditing to the firm’s telecom consulting area – including leadership of Olsen Thielen’s Telephone Advisory Services department for many years. He served as President of Olsen Thielen from 1994 to 2003 and was Chairman of the Board of Directors from 2003 to 2012.
Tom played a key role in moving the telephone industry forward at both the state and federal levels. During the last 45 years he has seen the breakup of the Bell System, the inception of access charges and the subsequent reform of access charges. He has also seen industry deregulation and re-regulation numerous times during his career at Olsen Thielen. Much of his professional life has been focused upon serving as an advocate for both regulatory and political advancement in the telecommunications industry.
Tom’s leadership and talent will be missed on a day-to-day basis. His legacy of processes, training, and culture will be instrumental in positioning Olsen Thielen to continue to provide services as a premier CPA and consulting firm in the Upper Midwest.
While Tom is going to be focusing his attention on his wife, Jacquelyn, his granddaughters, his golf game, and various other interests, he will still be around. We are fortunate that Tom will continue to be an ambassador for Olsen Thielen and will be attending various telecommunications industry events throughout the next year.
We send our best wishes to Tom in his retirement!