Olav Larson is the paternal uncle of Kirsten Larson. He left Sweden six years before the Larson family (c. 1848) when Kirsten was three years old and immigrated to America, so Kirsten initially barely remembers him and only knows him through how much her family has spoken of him. He left to start a better like in America and sent a letter telling Anders about his farm and how he would like the Larsons to come and help, for the land is rich and good. While in America he married Inger, a widow with two young daughters (Lisbeth and Anna).