Tony Olson grew up in the Midwest with a straightforward understanding of work: you earn what you build, and you build it from the inside out. That orientation never left him.
Tony’s career began in the natural and organic industry at a time when the category was still defining itself. He joined Just Squeezed Juices — later acquired by Odwalla — and spent the next 25 years inside the work: building teams, developing markets, and learning the mechanics of how consumer brands scale.
The defining chapter was SPINS. Tony joined when the company had fewer than 20 employees. Over the course of his tenure, SPINS grew to over 650 people, expanded through several acquisitions, and became the leading data and analytics platform for the natural products industry. In 2021, Tony led the sale of a majority stake to Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic — a transaction that validated not just the business, but the method behind it.
Twenty-five years of operating experience is not a credential. It is a lens.
Tony built companies before he deployed capital. He made decisions where execution determined outcomes — not narrative, not momentum. That sequence defines everything about how Webster operates today: standard first, investment second. Nobody has this view. Nobody has this depth of operating experience in the natural and organic ecosystem, or this knowledge of retail, data, and brick-and-mortar brands built from scratch. That is Webster’s foundation.
Tony is the Chairman of the SPINS Board and a founding member of Naturally Chicago.
He founded Tasseo and supports City Church Chicago, the Salt and Light Coalition, and the Salt and Light Academy in Myanmar.