Olive Ann Beech

Who was Olive Ann Beech?

Olive Ann Beech was a U.S. aviation pioneer and businesswoman.

With her husband, Walter Herschel Beech, she founded the Beech Aircraft Company.

During World War II, she ran the company during the period her husband suffered encephalitis.

After her husband's death in 1950, she continued running the company, and was the driving force for the company's later expansion. With the company's merger into Raytheon, she joined Raytheon's board.

In 1980, the U.S. National Aeronautic Association awarded her the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy for her contributions to the aviation industry. She was inducted into the American National Business Hall of Fame in 1983. She died in Wichita, Kansas.