The town of Olds was first settled in 1890 when the sixth siding of the rail line was built just outside of Calgary, and the first through train made the trip from Calgary to south of Edmonton. Olds is ideally located on the Calgary/Edmonton Highway 2 corridor, 50 minutes from Calgary Airport, 90km north of Calgary city centre, and 59km south of Red Deer. The population of Olds is 6,600 and is the major service centre/regional market for over 20,000 people in Mountain View County.