Olenski played his first season with the Crimson Tide as a member of their freshmen team for the 1940 season.[1] He then started at tackle for Alabama in both the 1941 and 1942 seasons.[2][3]
After the university canceled the 1943 season, Olenski served as a coach for the Alabama Informals.[4][5] The squad was composed of 17-year-old and draft deferred students and after a loss to Howard, the Informals defeated Marion Military Institute twice and finished the season with an overall record of two wins and one loss.[5][6]
Professional career
Olenski was taken in the ninth round as the 78th overall pick in the 1944 NFL draft by the Brooklyn Tigers.[7] He never played a game with the Tigers, and instead enlisted in United States Army.[8] Olenski was stationed at Fort Warren in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he also played defensive tackle and served as an assistant coach for the base team, the Fort Warren Broncos.[9] For his performance on the field in 1944, Olenski was named to the 1944 All-Rocky Mountain Team.[10]
On September 9, 1945, he was signed by the Miami Seahawks of the All-America Football Conference for their 1946 season for whom he would play after he finished the 1945 season at Fort Warren.[8][10] With the Seahawks, Olenski played for one of his former coaches at Alabama, Hank Crisp, and was a starter at the tackle position for the duration of the season.[11][12] After his first season in Miami, Olenski was signed by the Baltimore Colts in July 1947, but was subsequently cut on August 26.[8][13] He was then signed by the Detroit Lions where he played tackle for their 1947 season.[14]