Chuck Olmstead
Chuck Olmstead was a news reporter for nearly 40 years. Educated at Suffolk University in his home town of Boston, Massachusetts Chuck’s first job as a television reporter was with WTIC-TV in Hartford, Connecticut. He later worked in Washington, DC, Detroit, Michigan and New York City. Chuck joined WHAS-TV in Louisville, Kentucky in 1975 where 30 years covered virtually every major local story. Known for asking the difficult questions and reporting on stories that affected “every man”, highlights of his career include covering the uneasy early years of school desegregation in Louisville and the tragic Carrollton, Kentucky school bus crash that claimed 27 lives. Chuck won several local and national awards for his reporting and was one of the few reporters ever permitted access inside the Fort Knox Gold Vault. His series on the gold vault was a featured special on the Discovery Channel. Chuck was the first inductee into the Louisville Association of Black Journalists.
Chuck’s untimely death from a brain aneurysm in March 2009 at age 60 left a great void in the City of Louisville. Since his passing, Chuck’s contributions to journalism and to the Louisville community have been recognized by several organizations. The Louisville Metro Council passed a resolution honoring Chuck by renaming the portion of Armory Place that traverses the WHAS-TV building “Chuck Olmstead Way”. An avid horse racing fan, over the years Chuck covered many issues affecting the horse industry and was beloved by many at the famous racetrack. Churchill Downs, Inc. honored Chuck during Derby season by hosting the first of what will be the annual Chuck Olmstead Memorial Race. And now The Chuck Olmstead Memorial Foundation, created by Chuck’s wife Candy, will honor Chuck’s memory and good work by providing assistance to brain injured patients and scholarships for students planning to study journalism.
Chuck started DUB Productions with his son Craig in 1998. The company has gone from a one camera production company to an Emmy-nominated award winning company complete with digital satellite truck and HD production capabilities.