Twinkle, 1960
Windsong,
Tbird #3, 1959
COMING SOON
Northwest Fleet Photography Collection
Featuring the Ken Ollar Archive
Fairliners built by
Western Boat Co.,
1957
Gold Cup
Circe, 1949
The Northwest Fleet Photography Collection was established in 2022, to digitize and preserve its large holding of 20th century negatives, transparencies, and prints depicting the maritime industry and maritime life on the Salish Sea. Works by well-known photographer
Ken Ollar, noted boat designer Heinrich Dole, and others are included in the collection.
A small team of volunteers oversees the work, with a principle goal of sharing this archive with the public through a searchable website serving researchers, educators, historians, and enthusiasts alike.
Who was Ken Ollar?
Born in 1912, Kenneth Griffin Ollar, was a notable photographer from Tacoma, Washington.
Ollar’s collection consists of a plethora of images, including sailboats, yachts, landscapes, and even military vessels. Ken served as a Combat Photo Unit Officer under General Patton during World War II.
As a staff photographer for Tacoma General Hospital from 1944-1977, Ollar spent over 20 years of his career photographing newborn babies.
He founded the hospital’s Newborn Baby Picture Program and was estimated to have photographed over 80,000 newborns.
Prior to his passing in 2007, Ollar passed his collection on to Gig Harbor BoatShop Executive Director Guy Hoppen who has permanently loaned the collection to the Gig Harbor BoatShop. Today, the BoatShop is honored to share Ollar’s legacy by curating an online selection of his work from the 1930s through the 1970s.
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