Niels Ole Nielsen was born in Edmonton, Alberta, on 3 March 1930. He attended the University of Toronto, receiving his DVM in 1956, and the University of Minnesota, where he received his Ph.D. in Veterinary Pathology in 1963. He joined the University of Saskatchewan in 1964 as Associate Professor, was promoted through the ranks to Full Professor (1968), Head of the department of Vet. Pathology (1968), and Dean of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine (1974), a position he held until 1982. Dr. Nielsen was instrumental in the establishment of the Prairie Swine Centre and, among his considerable academic achievements, was one of the team of researchers who first established that mercury pollution was a problem in Canada and a potential hazard to humans.