Kevin Olmstead
Kevin Omstead is an member emeritus of NAQT.
Education and Work
Olmstead holds degrees in chemical engineering from Case Western Reserve and MIT. He earned a PhD from Michigan in environmental engineering.
Quizbowl
Olmstead played some version of quizbowl at Whitmer High School in Toledo, and also played in college. He became team coach/adviser for Michigan's quizbowl team while studying there.
In 1996, Olmstead was a founding member of NAQT, and served as Chief Financial Officer. He was an active member of NAQT until he became an emeritus member in 2005.
Game Show Appearances
Olmstead earned a degree of celebrity for his work on game shows. In 1994, Olstead appeared on three episodes of Jeopardy!. In April 2001, Olstead appeared on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, and became the seventh contestant in the American show's run to answer all 15 questions and win the top prize. In Olmstead's case, the show had started increasing the top prize by $10,000 each time the top prize wasn't won, and had reached $2,180,000 by the time Olmstead won. At the time, this certified Olmstead as the world record holder for having won the most money in game show history. Olmstead currently ranks third on this list behind Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings. Of further note, Olstead's "phone-a-friend" on his Millionaire run was Eric Hillemann, who helped him with a question about James Agee and Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.
In 2006, Olmstead appeared as a member of the mob on the game show 1 vs. 100, but did not add to his winnings. Olmstead later appeared on the show Grand Slam as part of a bracketed tournament involving other game show champions. Despite being the #3 seed, he did not advance out of his opening round match.
External Links
- [1] Olmstead's Millionaire wikia entry, including his entire list of questions.
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