Larry C. Olsen (25 July 1937 – 17 March 2020) was a pioneer in the commercialization of betavoltaic technology due to his successful work in leading the development of the first commercially available betavoltaic nuclear battery at McDonnell Douglas Corporation in the 1970s.[,] Several hundred of these batteries were fabricated and a large number were used to power implanted heart pacemakers[]. Olsen has published more than 80 articles in the fields of betavoltaics, photovoltaics, thermoelectric materials, and solid state physics. He has also earned several awards for his research, including the , presented each year by R&D Magazine to identify the 100 most significant, newly introduced research and development advances in multiple disciplines.