H. Everett Olson Dies; Led Carnation Co.

H. Everett Olson, who directed the Carnation Co. during a period of its greatest growth, died Sunday at his Los Angeles home after what a company spokesman said was a long illness.

Olson, 79, was chairman of the board of the Los Angeles-based diversified foods company at his death.

He joined Carnation in 1931 in Wisconsin as an assistant controller and transferred to the West Coast in 1936. He was named Carnation’s treasurer in 1948, vice president for finance in 1954, assistant to the president in 1961 and president in 1963. He was appointed chairman in 1971 and was to have continued in that position until the end of this year under an agreement with Nestle S.A., a Swiss conglomerate that purchased Carnation for $3 billion earlier this year.

During Olson’s tenure, Carnation introduced some of its best-known products--Instant Breakfast, Mighty Dog canned dog food and Friskies Buffet canned cat food.

By 1981, industry analysts were saying that the company was resting on its laurels. Olson responded by noting that Carnation had posted three decades of consecutive earnings increases and said that was ample evidence of the firm’s aggressiveness.

He is survived by his wife, Inez, a son and two daughters.