Inductees

Olan was born in Hill City, Kansas. After moving, he placed fourth in the 1949 Colorado State Wrestling Championships for Boulder High School at 127 pounds. After joining the U.S. Marine Corps, Olan was a combat veteran in the Korean War. Following his military service, he began college wrestling at Colorado A&M. Injuries limited his participation. In 1957, Coach Polite started the Arvin High School wrestling program. He coached there for two seasons, producing one CIF champ.

In 1959, Olan took over as Head Wrestling Coach at Bakersfield High School. He coached there until 1976, compiling a career dual record of 189-37-2, winning 83 percent of those matches. His teams won numerous South Yosemite League titles and two CIF Valley Championships. The 1968 and 1972 teams were selected as California Team of the Year by Cal-High Sports prior to the advent of the State Championship Meet. Olan coached 23 CIF Champions and 68 CIF place winners.

He was named Coach of the Year for the California District 8 (13 states) and subsequently nominated for National Coach of the Year. Polite was a member of the National board of Advisors for Scholastic Wrestling News, and he was published in the Amateur Wrestling News. Olan was a founding member of the Kern County Wrestling Association and the Coyote Club, and he was a director for the first Junior World Regional held in Bakersfield in 1968.

He was the team leader for an AAU Cultural Exchange All-Star Team from the California’s Central Section to Germany in 1978. In 1996, he was the Grand Marshall of the Pac-10 Championships. Polite passed away while attending the NCAA Championships in 1999. The Kern High School District named the Bakersfield High School wrestling facility for him in 2006. He was inducted into the California Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2008. He was proud of having coached five wrestlers who became U.S. Naval Academy graduates.