George Olesen is best known for his work as a penciller on popular comic strip The Phantom

The Phantom

The Phantom is an American adventure comic strip created by Lee Falk, also creator of Mandrake the Magician. A popular feature adapted into many media, including television, film and video games, it stars a costumed crimefighter operating from the fictional African country Bengalla.The Phantom is...

. He worked with the character for around 40 years, although he did not get any official credit for it until penciler Sy Barry

Sy Barry

Seymour "Sy" Barry is an American comic strip artist, best known for his work on The Phantom comic strip, which he drew for three decades.-Career:...

 retired and Keith Williams took over as the new inker. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 he served as a B-24 pilot in the Burma campaign

Burma Campaign

The Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was fought primarily between British Commonwealth, Chinese and United States forces against the forces of the Empire of Japan, Thailand, and the Indian National Army. British Commonwealth land forces were drawn primarily from...

.

George has also illustrated a few Phantom stories for the Scandinavian Phantom comics, which he both pencilled and inked.

George retired in 2005, leaving Paul Ryan to take over both the pencilling and inking jobs on The Phantom. Today, he enjoys a quiet life with his wife Rigmor, far away from the stressing deadlines he constantly had to face as a cartoonist.