Retired CBE Professor Dies in Paragliding Accident

A longtime Western Washington University professor has died after a paragliding accident near Samish Overlook on Blanchard Mountain in Skagit County on Wednesday, July 13.

Thomas J. “TJ” Olney, 64, died from blunt-force injuries in the accident, said Hayley Thompson, Skagit County coroner. Olney was an associate professor of marketing at Western Washington University for the last 30 years and had retired just last month, said Craig Dunn, dean of the College of Business and Economics.