By George P. Hassett

David Olsen is a self-proclaimed geek. He was a double major in physics and astronomy at Wesleyan University. For fun he dresses up in elaborate costumes and fights his friends with swords made of rubber foam.

But to President of the Board of Aldermen Dennis M. Sullivan Olsen, a Hall Avenue resident for the last six years, is a bona fide TV celebrity and ideal role model for local kids afraid to be themselves.
That is because last year Olsen took home over $60,000 as the winner of ‚ÄúBeauty and the Geek‚Äù — a reality TV show that pairs nerdy men with comely women – by waving his geek flag for the whole world to see.

‚ÄúDavid Olsen is the anti-Brittney Spears,‚Äù Sullivan said at Thursday’s meeting. ‚ÄúHe is someone who gives TV a good name and he lives right here in Somerville.‚Äù

In fact, the show’s top three finishers – Olsen, Nicole Morgan and Jennifer Carter – live in Somerville.

Olsen said “Beauty and the Geek” is different from the reality shows that revel in the degradation of its participants.

‚ÄúBeauty and the Geek’ is not meant to humiliate or embarrass. It is meant to fulfill the best of human potential,‚Äù he said.

In the show, which Olsen describes as a social experiment as opposed to a dating show, bookish men teach beautiful women the joys of geekdom, such as self-reliance and devotion to knowledge, while the women teach the geeks social grace and self-confidence, he said.

On the program Olsen earned a place for himself in geek history as he and his partner Jasmine Warner walked away with the grand prize of $125,000 after viewers voted them the top pair.

“America thought I was a successful geek,” he said.

One reason Americans may have chosen Olsen as their favorite, and most credible, geek is the foam sword-fighting pastime he is so passionate about.

Olsen said he initially tried out for the show to bring attention to larping, a live action game that brings the role-playing of table top games such as Dungeons and Dragons off the board and into real life (well, kind of).

Players dress up in fantasy garb, foam swords in hand, and boff, or strike, one another in the limbs rendering body parts ineligible for further use. If a larper is hit in his or her right arm they can no longer use it for the rest of the battle.

If Olsen was a geek before he discovered larping his passion for what he thinks of as “improvisational, interactive theater” seals the deal. In one episode of the show Olsen brings Warner to Boston Р“the nexus of geekdom” he said Рfor some public larping in the Common.

Thursday was likely the first time Somerville aldermen honored a man who loves to dress up in outlandish costumes and fight other men with foam swords, but according to Sullivan Olsen deserves recognition in this time of trash TV – where reaching for the lowest common denominator seems to be the goal – for his emphasis on intelligence and willingness to show the world who he is.

And for the kids who are teased for their high grades and oddball pursuits Olsen had these wise words:
‚ÄúDon’t be afraid to be yourself. Someday you will find people who appreciate you for who you are and share your interests.‚Äù