Tom Olshausen

Thomas Vinzenz Olshausen (born June 1, 1951) is a German-American billionaire. A technology entrepreneur and former video game designer and programmer, he is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Olshausen Inc., and a co-founder and the former president of Astound.

Early life and education
Thomas Vinzenz Olshausen was born on June 1, 1952 in, then part of. His father, Herschel, worked in a tool factory.

Olshausen began attending in  in 1971. However, Olshausen was unhappy with life in the and "wanted out" of it. He and his father Herschel, also unhappy with life in East Germany, conspired to flee the country. In January 1973, Thomas and Herschel diverted from a family trip and crossed the into. They narrowly avoided capture before being stopped by a  officer, who asked him what they were doing. Herschel responded, "All of the anti-Communists in East Berlin try everything to get past and we're getting into your country the easier way. What's wrong with that!?" The guard laughed, and let the two through. Thomas chose to emigrate to the United States under a refugee visa from the U.S. embassy in obtained with the help of the ; he completed his education at, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics.

Video game development career
In 1978, Olshausen began working for, working on lower-tier games for the. In 1981, he quit Atari and joined rival publisher.