John Oslund, Star Tribune assistant business editor who oversaw Minnesota's biggest business stories, dies at 70

On any given news day for more than 35 years, John Oslund was at the center of the day's business coverage at the Star Tribune.

As an assistant business editor, he often strolled in relatively late in the morning and then worked long past print deadlines to make sure the night production team had all elements to put together the business section.

Oslund, 70, died Saturday from the effects of Alzheimer's disease in Bloomington.

Oslund was born in Austin, Texas, to parents John Oslund Sr. and wife Catherine while his father served in the Air Force. The family soon moved to Minneapolis.

Oslund, who retired in 2014, attended the University of Minnesota but left in 1977 a few credits shy of his undergraduate degree to become a copy boy at the Minneapolis Star. Years later, he completed those credits and in 1996 earned a master's degree in business journalism as a Knight-Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University.

Oslund was a business reporter and assistant business editor at a time when business and personal finance news was gaining more importance to newspapers and readers.

He was a constant in the department, as top editors and reporters came in and out.

"He was steady, smart, curious, kind, witty and a workhorse. Beyond being a fine journalist, he was a really good man who cared deeply about his colleagues," said Duchesne Drew, who was assistant managing editor of business from 2005 to 2007 and now is president of Minnesota Public Radio.

"I loved working with Oz because he did many things well and took the work, not himself, seriously."

Colleagues said they enjoyed his dry sense of humor and sage advice, and so did others, evidenced by a steady stream of news assistants to senior managers who regularly stopped by his desk seeking counsel on story ideas and writing tips, and personal advice on their life situations or whom to call to fix something.

"John was always composed under pressure," said retired business columnist Neal St. Anthony, who was a friend and colleague for more than 30 years. "He was very good with copy, and he always stressed collaboration to produce the best possible story for tomorrow or next month."

Fred Zimmerman, a retired professor of engineering and management at the University of St. Thomas, wrote numerous submitted pieces that Oslund edited for the newspaper.

"John Oslund was a motivating editor with a compass. He had an instinctive knack for ferreting out important issues versus 'yawners,'" Zimmerman said. "He would then encourage the many people he mentored to employ fairness and dignity in works presented."

Former Star Tribune reporter and editor Dave Hage recalled Oslund as one of the finest aviation reporters in the country during the 1980s. He said Oslund regularly beat larger national news organizations on important airline stories, including the Northwest-Republic merger in 1986.

"Like few other business writers in the United States, he anticipated the wave of airline consolidation that would ensue after deregulation," Hage said.

Jon Austin, senior partner of communications consultancy J Austin & Associates who worked at Northwest Airlines in the 1990s, called Oslund one of the most thoughtful and judicious journalists he has worked with.

"I have occasionally — though far less often than people think — had reason to question a journalist's objectivity or whether they were looking to confirm a conclusion they'd already reached, but not once did that happen with John. Or with any reporter he supervised," Austin said.

Oslund was a recreational pilot and avid sailor. He and his wife, Bonnie — they married in 1978 — enjoyed traveling, especially to visit their two children and three grandchildren.

He is survived by children Abigail (Bryan) Axelrod and Jonathan (Kristy) Oslund; his sisters Jane Oslund (Mike Wiley), Patricia Bremer and Duchie (David) Van Hoven; and brother Thomas (Nancy) Oslund.

A celebration of his life will be held March 16.