BUHL, Idaho — Have you ever wondered how long you could survive in the wilderness without assistance, gas stations, or social media?
Nathan Olsen from southern Idaho found his answer:
"34 days," said Nathan Olsen, describing his time spent alone in South Africa's Karoo Desert.
Olsen recently won the 12th season of the History Channel's reality series "Alone," where contestants are dropped into remote wilderness locations with just 10 survival items and must survive as long as possible without any outside help.
"It just turned out for me, having been raised here in southern Idaho, running around in this desert that I felt at home there in South Africa," said Olsen.
See how southern Idaho compares to South Africa as Idaho News 6 chats with Nathan Olsen—
Olsen was the last contestant standing, surviving the wild with minimal supplies, relying on skills he's been developing his entire life.
"It's not for everybody, like some of us kind of like to hide out and be alone, you know what I did right here as a child so much," said Olsen.
Family legacy of survival expertise, Olsen has been practicing wilderness survival his whole life, with his father, Larry Dean Olsen, literally writing the book on it.
"This became a bestseller in the '70s," said Nathan, referring to his father's survival guide.
Nathan isn't the first Idahoan to succeed in the series, nor is he even the first member of his family to appear on the show. His younger brother Luke lasted 22 days in Saskatchewan during season 10.
"My brothers and I, we roamed all this country, and so when I was out there, I felt a lot like that experience: just going out into the wilderness and having a good time," said Nathan.
Wilderness therapy advocate, his father's passion became part of the family business, teaching survival skills and later offering wilderness therapy through the Anasazi Foundation.
Nathan grew up in this environment, helping teach others how to survive and developing mindset skills to keep moving forward despite hunger or disappointment.
"Having had lots of opportunities in the past to struggle and be hungry, and you always know there's another side of that, and you're gonna make it through, and if you tested yourself previously, then when you're in those situations, you feel pretty confident, you can make it through it again," said Nathan.
He is a firm believer in the benefits of wilderness therapy as an intervention for young people aged 15 to 24 confronting issues like addiction, depression, and anxiety.
"I've had the opportunity to be involved in some of the research around wilderness therapy, and it's a very safe intervention, highly effective, and helping young people get through difficult periods of their life," said Nathan. "A lot of anxiety and depression out there right now, and a lot of screen time happening, and we found that a great intervention is just take a break, be out in the wilderness for an extended period of time has tremendous therapeutic effect."
The 12th season of the History Channel's "Alone" is available for streaming at the HISTORY channel's website, and many on-demand streaming services. You can stream past episodes of Alone on The HISTORY Channel app, history.com, and On Demand on all pay-TV platforms that offer The HISTORY Channel.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
