This week, the Toronto Jazz community lost one of its fiercest advocates. Fay Olson-Vickery, the public relations firebrand bringing life to some of the best in Canadian jazz, passed away on October 3 after a lengthy illness.
Born on September 23, 1941 to Horace (Bob) Olson and Nora Olson in Fenwood, Saskatchewan, she moved with the family to Lethbridge, Alberta and then entered the workforce in Toronto as a copywriter for Radio Station CFRB.
She then joined one of Canada’s top PR firms, Public Relations Services Limited, and then in 1972, moved with PR executive Stan Houston and other PRSL executives when he founded The Houston Group Public Relations Limited where she rose to become Executive Vice President.
It was in the field of public relations that Fay found her true calling as she began working on and developing the many music-oriented sponsorships of Imperial Tobacco Limited, the agency’s largest client—sponsorships that began with coordinating musicians and groups to promote the Millbank brand and moved on to being a founder or co-founder of the du Maurier Council for the Arts, the talent show du Maurier Search for Stars with CBC producer Ray McConnell, and her pride and joy— the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival in 1987— along with the late Jim Galloway and Pat Taylor.
After retiring from the Houston Group, she founded Fay Olson and Associates, with her first client being the Canadian Equestrian Team, who were familiar with the outstanding promotional work she had done on behalf of the du Maurier International equestrian competitions at Spruce Meadows in Calgary. Her musical connections and experience led her into the area of booking musical groups such as the Canadian Jazz Quartet and programming music in various Toronto venues including Quotes Restaurant (2009-2012), Kama Restaurant (2012-2015) and the Home Smith Bar at the Old Mill Hotel.
