Bryan David Olesen was born on November 1, 1973, in Hartford, Connecticut, to parents John and Norine Olesen. He married Jennifer Hines on August 23, 1997, and has three children.

Bryan is best known for his involvement in the major Christian bands Newsboys and VOTA.

Bryan is one of the founding members of the group VOTA, previously known as Casting Pearls,^[1] a Christian rock band, along with Case Maranville. Bryan has been lead singer and guitarist of VOTA since its beginnings in the late 1990s.

Bryan was called to perform with Inpop labelmates Newsboys when guitarist Jody Davis was unable to perform due to his daughter's illness. Bryan was officially announced as Davis' replacement in February 2004, and remained lead guitarist and background vocalist in the group until January 2006, when he left the band to focus on his other band, VOTA (then known as Casting Pearls).

As of 2024, Olesen is competing on the twenty-fifth season of The Voice as a part of John Legend's team.^[2]