Brett Olson is a co-founder and Creative Director for Renewing the Countryside, President of Green Routes, and hosts Local Food Hero radio. Brett began working in a boutique design studio in Minneapolis in 1989. Soon after he entered a business partnership based in desktop computer programming, marketing and design. And by 1990 he had opened his own marketing, advertising and brand development studio. Creating communications and branding strategies for companies from “mom-and-pop” neighborhood businesses to packaging and other printed collateral for well-known national brands. In 2004 much of Brett’s attention was focussed on using the communication strategies he had been developing for Renewing the Countryside to frame rural issues for an urban audience. Renewing the Countryside's mission is to find active strategies for building sustainable rural economies and enhancing the quality of place for the people who live in them. Brett has presented extensively on sustainable tourism, sustainable family farms and local food. Brett has art directed numerous publications including the new acclaimed Youth - Renewing the Countryside, and he has consulted with the Secretary of Agriculture for the Netherlands on a comparative book on working landscapes titled Values of Agrarian Landscapes across Europe and North America. As one of the founders, Brett has been involved in much of the development, planning and organizing of Renewing the Countryside since it's beginning. Brett and his family split their time between their home in St. Paul, and farm in Zumbro Falls, Minnesota. Lucy, their dog, prefers the farm - Brett agrees.