US Congressman, Lawyer, Judge. He was a United States Representative from the State of North Dakota. He was born one of five children as Olger Burton Burtness on a farm near Mekinock in the Dakota Territory, to Norwegian immigrants Ole Olsen Burtness (1852-1937), and his wife Mary Andersen Berg Burtness (1850-1931), in Grand Forks, North Dakota, on March 14, 1884. He was educated locally and attended the local common country schools, before attending the prestigious Academic Department of the University of North Dakota in Grand Falls, North Dakota, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree (or B.A.), in 1906, as well as attending the Law Department of the University of North Dakota in Grand Falls, North Dakota, where he graduated from with a law degree in 1907. He was admitted to the bar in 1907, and commenced his practice of law in Grand Forks, North Dakota, shortly thereafter. He represented the University of North Dakota in Grand Falls, North Dakota, in several intercollegiate debates and was also active in The Mimer Society, a Scandinavian literary society. He was also a member of the university football team and was editor-in-chief of the Dacotah annual. He was one of the founders of the UND Alumni Association and helped organize the UND Development Fund. He then served a term as the Prosecuting State Attorney of Grand Forks County, North Dakota, from 1911 to 1916, and as a Delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1916. He was drafted during World War I, but he never served. He also served as a Member of the North Dakota State House of Representatives in 1919 and 1920. He then decided to run for a seat in the United States Congress and was elected to succeed the outgoing United States Representative John Miller Baer (1886-1970), on March 4, 1921. A Member of the Republican Party, he then served North Dakota's 1st District (the Sixty-Seventh Congress, the Sixty-Eighth Congress, the Sixty-Ninth Congress, the Seventieth Congress, the Sevnty-First Congress, and the Seventy-Second Congress), in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1921, to March 3, 1933. He was an unsuccessful Candidate for renomination in 1932. In total, he was elected in 1920, reelected unopposed in 1922, reelected in 1924, reelected in 1926, reelected in 1928, reelected in 1930, redistricted to the At-Large district, and lost renomination in 1932. Following his time in the United States Congress, he was succeeded in office by the incoming United States Representative William Frederick Lemke (1878-1950), on March 4, 1933. After leaving the United States Congress, he resumed his practice of in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and served a term as the City Attorney of Grand Forks, North Dakota, in 1936 and again in 1937. He also served as a Delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1936 and was drafted during World War II in 1942, but he never served. He also served as a Delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1948, and continued with his law practice in Grand Forks, North Dakota. He was personally appointed by United States Representative and Governor of North Dakota Fred George Aandahl (1897-1966), to serve as a Judge of the First Judicial District in the North Dakota District Court from November 1950, until his death on January 20, 1960, at the age of 75. He was replaced in office by the attorney Philip R. Bangs on February 24, 1960. On an interesting note, one of his final court cases was a perjury case that took place against a man named Harvey J. Gershlen, of Fargo, North Dakota, on January 16, 1960. The defendant was charged with perjury on October 31, 1959, in connection with statements on his application for a North Dakota insurance agent's license after the commissioner of insurance A.J. Jensen requested charges be brought against the defendant with the Grand Fork, North Dakota, State' Attorney Carleton Nelson complied with the request. The charges were later dropped against the defendant after the judge signed off on the order. He passed away following surgery for an internal hemorrhage at the Deaconess Hospital in Grand Forks, North Dakota, on January 20, 1960, at the age of 75. Following his death, his funeral services were held through the Hanson Funeral Chapel in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where his body lay in state, and at the Federated Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota, with the Reverend George A. Macaulay and the Reverend Russell Peterson officiating, while flags were flown at half mast at the court house in his honor. Following the funeral services, he was buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Grand Forks, North Dakota. A Member of the Lutheran faith, he was also a lifelong member of several organizations and clubs including the Phi Delta Theta, the Phi Alpha Delta, the Phi Beta Kappa, the Delta Sigma Rhi, the Freemasons, the Scottish Rite Masons, the Shriners, and the Sons of Norway. He was also honored by the King of Denmark with an Order of the Falcon with a star in 1930. He also represented the President of the United States at the 100th anniversary of the Icelandic Parliament. He was married to Zoe Ensign Burtness (1884-1962), in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, on September 8, 1909. The couple had no children together. Following his death, his wife Zoe donated funds to the University of the State of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota, to construct an assembly hall for plays, lectures, and concerts, in honor of her late husband. The Burtness Theater was dedicated on April 28, 1963, but sadly his wife did not live to see this. His wife Zoe predeceased him passing away in Grand Forks, North Dakota, on November 4, 1962, at the age of 78, and she is also buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The Olger Burton Burtness Papers which consists primarily of personal diaries for 1921 and 1927, as well as personal financial records, correspondence and material concerning the Dakota Playmakers, and the Sock and Buskin Society are located at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota.