Olas Ortwein

Olas is a Las Vegas-based professional musician, specializing in electric bass, upright bass, and guitar. In high school, Olas began his professional career playing in pits for musicals and doing recording sessions around Indianapolis. He quickly gained a reputation for being an exceptional bass player, and was eventually admitted into the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. There, Olas was able to expand his horizons and play in many different ensembles, including the IU Soul Revue. Olas was also fortunate enough to tour with fellow IU Alumni, The Main Squeeze; capping off his time with them at Bonnaroo in 2012.

Olas took a break from school to work professionally and began performing on cruise ships as a show band musician; eventually working his way up to musical director. His last contract landed him in New Orleans and he decided to stay. Just as he had done in Indianapolis, Olas quickly gained a reputation as an exceptional musician and began performing all over the city with some of the best musicians in the world; including Dash Rip Rock, Russell Batiste Jr, Dave Easley, and the Louisiana Philharmonic. After working and teaching privately for a few more years (and realizing that his college credits were about to expire), Olas decided that it was time to finish his degree and obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Music Industry Studies from Loyola University, New Orleans - all while working and furthering his career as a professional musician. He also took advantage of the many film opportunities that have sprung up in New Orleans, doing specialized extra work as a bass player for scenes in the TV show Filthy Rich and the movie The Last Laugh.

Like many others in the art community and service industry at-large, Olas’ life plans and career were halted by the pandemic. Using this time of rapid change and isolation to his advantage, Olas decided to study Software Development online through Maryville University - obtaining a Masters degree and developing a music app designed to teach anyone how to read and interpret chord changes. Fortunately, as the world slowly started to open back up, Olas was also able to slowly start getting back into music; teaching students how to play bass and guitar, writing and recording music for his father’s first full-length album, It Was Time, performing bass for Mean Girls: The Musical’s First National Tour, and releasing an EP of experimental music.

Olas recently made the move to Las Vegas and is currently working as a web designer and audio/video editor, as well as his usual schtick of playing bass anywhere and everywhere. He is also currently working on a full-length album, featuring compositions written during the pandemic and performances from friends he has met throughout his life.