Our Founder

Olin L. Walden, B. Arch, NOMA, owner, President and Principal Design Consultant at Olin Arctronics

is a 1988 graduate of Hampton University (HU) with a degree in Architecture. After many years working in the building construction, code enforcement, and architecture fields, Walden became an adjunct professor at Hampton University in the Department of Architecture. In the summer of 1999, Walden created a class to teach aspiring young architecture students at Hampton to design houses that would be suitable for construction by Habitat for Humanity International. His decision to teach at the university level was inspired while he served as a member of the Board of Directors for Peninsula Habitat for Humanity. Mr. Walden later served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Peninsula Habitat from 2002 until 2004. Professor Walden continued his service at Hampton University on the architecture faculty through 2007. While there, he also provided course instruction in Environmental Systems, Second Year Design Studio, and Professional Practice. In April 2007, the Department of Architecture at HU presented Olin L. Walden with a Citation for Leadership in Architecture for his Distinguished Service in the department as the Architecture Alumni Liaison and Relationship Coordinator.

Olin Walden’s early construction trade training and experiences were in the field of masonry, acquired while working as a laborer for his father’s company, Frank L. Walden, General Contractor. Walden later became a Construction Superintendent for A.A. Builders of Virginia, Inc., a regional construction firm. Walden’s early architectural experiences included working with several firms, including: respected Architect G. Alan Morledge, AIA in Williamsburg, VA, and The Design Collaborate in Newport News, VA. Walden’s building code and property maintenance training experience was obtained while working for nearly a decade in the

Building Department of the City of Hampton, VA. While employed by Hampton, Walden served as a Property

Maintenance Inspector and Coordinator of Housing Development activities in the Westhampton Community Development Target Area. In 1979, Walden became Hampton’s second certified Residential Plans Examiner. Walden later became the Senior Commercial and Residential Plans Examiner for Hampton in 1981, where he remained until leaving public service for corporate life in 1983.

From 1983 to 1988, Olin Walden was employed by KFC National Management Company as a Construction Engineer. In that position, he was responsible for preliminary site design, renovation, and new construction development of over thirty restaurants in the Mid-Atlantic region. During his employment at KFC, he mastered the art of permit expediting in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. 

In November of 1988, Olin L. Walden founded Olin Arctronics in Hampton, VA. Specializing in Walden’s

passion for creative and appropriate residential design, Olin Arctronics continues its mission with over two hundred residential, commercial, and faith-based facility design clients. In 1989, Olin Arctronics expanded its services after its' founder and President received certification from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Olin Walden has acquired multiple HUD certifications, including HUD Single Family Fee Compliance Inspector, HUD Plans Examiner, HUD Multi-family Fee Inspector, HUD Section 203(k) Inspector, HUD Section 203(k) Plan Reviewer, and HUD Section 203(k) Consultant. Walden has performed more than 1,200 inspections of single-family and multi-family residential units, has worked with more than thirty mortgage lenders, and has performed more than five hundred inspections for more than one hundred satisfied clients

and still counting.

In June of 2000, Olin L. Walden, NOMA (National Organization of Minority Architects), partnered with

Bradford C. Grant, AIA, NOMA, to create what became Arctronics Grant Walden Architects, PLLC (AGWA Architects, PLLC), where Walden served as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. AGWA provided quality architecture design and consulting services for its' residential, commercial, and faith based clients while acting as a conduit for architecture student internships until 2007, when Grant took the Chair of Architecture position at Howard University and Walden re-entered the public service sector.

In 2007, Walden joined the City of Virginia Beach, VA, as Housing Development Coordinator in the
Department of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation. In addition to his regular supervisory responsibilities, he also served as architectural  consultant and project manager for the PREmier Homes and Neighborhoods Pattern Book Project and the Burton Station Village Design Standards Project. Walden subsequently moved from the Department of Housing to the Department of Public Works in the City of Virginia Beach where he served as a Facilities Management Inspector/Project Manager and remained until his retirement in 2021.

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Walden’s extensive training includes: Universal Design and Green Building through the VA Housing Development Authority; Davis-Bacon and Labor Standards Compliance Training; Section 504 requirements and ADA requirements for Title II Entities; Capital Funds Programs HUD Part 58; Environment Review Training through the Department of HUD; and Fair Housing Certification through the VA Fair Housing Board. Walden is also a Certified Section 3 Coordinator under the 24 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 135.

Aside from continuing to serve as the President of Olin Arctronics, Walden is also the President of

Walden- Holland Properties, Inc. (WHP, Inc.), a Virginia residential development company. He is a real estate investor, a past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hermitage Museum & Gardens,

(a Smithsonian affiliate museum), and is a former Trustee of the Hermitage Foundation. Olin Walden is honored to be the First National President Emeritus of The Fraternal Brotherhood of Gamma Epsilon Theta, Inc., and he previously served as President of the Hampton Roads Chapter of that organization. Olin Walden has been married for over 40 years, is a proud father of three, and is the doting grandfather of two grandsons.