Small Stature, Big Impact: The Long-Lived Life of RMAC HOF Inductee, Olin Hatfield "Chilly" Chilson
This is the first profile of six individuals being inducted into the 2018 RMAC Hall of Fame on Friday, July 13 at the Colorado Springs Marriott Hotel. The 1997 and 1998 Regis Volleyball Teams will also be inducted.
Olin Hatfield “Chilly” Chilson was a gregarious Pueblo, Colorado native, who was not only highly regarded for his accomplishments and accolades in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), but also for his achievements in life after college.
An independent, accomplished man standing only five-foot-eight, weighing 135-pounds, Chilson was a “giant of a man” in the eyes of son John Chilson.
“He was a self-made man, he came out of great poverty,” explained John. “He started working when he was about 12-years-old to help the family make it financially and he was the hardest working man I think I ever knew…he was very successful in everything he did.”
Within athletics, Chilly Chilson was a dynamic three-sport varsity student-athlete at the University of Colorado, Boulder (CU). His career began in the early 1920s, after receiving a rotary scholarship to attend CU. During his time at CU he amassed 11 varsity letters playing football for three years, and basketball and baseball for four years.
Chilson was recognized for his talents during his first game as a sophomore in 1923, filling in as the starting quarterback. On the road against defending conference champion, Utah, he completed 11-of 21 passes for 170 yards and ran for a touchdown to lead CU to a 17-7 victory. He remained behind center for the rest of the season and helped lead the then Silver and Gold (now Buffaloes) to a 9-0 record, and CU’s first conference championship title since 1913.
In 1924, Chilson led the CU “Wonder Team” to a 7-0-1 regular season record and secured the Silver and Gold’s second-straight conference football title. Chilson posted a 23-4-1 career record at CU by utilizing a unique style of play at the collegiate level, becoming one of the nation’s first jump passers.
“He was an All-Conference basketball guard, being selected two years,” stated John. “He was also an All-Conference baseball player, and I think he played both shortstop and catcher. So, he was All-Conference in the three sports he participated in.”
Chilson was an RMAC great and everyone who knew him could attest to that fact.
“People would tell me things about him which were just so amazing,” recalled John. “[They would say he’s] ‘the greatest quarterback of the 1920s’, ‘the best short stop they ever had on the [baseball] team’, ‘the best guard they ever had on the basketball team’… I mean it was that kind of build-up that I got as a kid…he was really something.”
Nonetheless, his accomplishments extended far beyond athletics.
Chilson graduated from CU’s School of Law in 1927. He went on to practice law in La Hera, which at the time, was the only job he could find. He continued his practice partnering with Kelly’s, Ab. H. Romans in Loveland, Colorado and became the youngest city attorney ever appointed in the state of Colorado. Chilson then served two terms as the District Attorney of the Eighth Judicial District of Colorado and later as the undersecretary of the Department of the Interior in the 1950s.
He was a respected individual with a resume that includes several leadership roles, such as being named President of the Larimer County Bar, Colorado District Attorneys, Colorado Bar Association, and the CU Alumni Association.
In 1954, Chilson served as an attorney for the Colorado Water Conservation Board, fostering his reputation as a specialist in water litigation and for making a substantial impact in western water law.
“He was instrumental in forming what is known as the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which is a water district that manages water diverted out of the Colorado River…and provides irrigation and now domestic water from Westminster to Wellington,” John noted. “He wrote the act that authorized the creation water conservation districts and was on the board of directors of that district and was instrumental in the passage of the act that funded the construction of the infrastructure to deliver the water [in Loveland],” said John.
As if Chilson’s successes so far, weren’t enough, he would return to private practice in Denver Colorado from 1958 to 1960. On February 19, 1960, Chilson was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to a seat on the U.S. District Court of the District of Colorado. A month later, Congress approved the nomination and Chilson finished his career as a federal judge, before passing away in September 1991 at the age of 87.
Without a doubt, Chilson was a role model in the RMAC, at CU, in the community, and was a highly regarded friend and family member.
“He was a guy that set out to do something, did it and never failed,” stated John. “I don’t know anything he failed at in his whole life…he was a hard, hard worker.”
Not everyday do you come across a man so small in stature but so large in the impact he’s made throughout his lifetime. Chilson was a renowned student-athlete in RMAC, an influential leader in law – he was simply “mister everything”.
Chilson will be honored posthumously at the 2018 RMAC Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet on Friday, July 13. To purchase tickets online and for more information, visit the
RMAC Hall of Fame page.