| Dave Bolen | |
| Ambassador From1: | United States |
| Country1: | East Germany |
| President1: | Jimmy Carter |
| Term Start1: | August 22, 1977 |
| Term End1: | June 20, 1980 |
| Predecessor1: | John Sherman Cooper |
| Successor1: | Herbert S. Okun |
| Ambassador From3: | United States |
| Country3: | Swaziland |
| President3: | Richard Nixon Gerald Ford |
| Term Start3: | April 22, 1974 |
| Term End3: | August 11, 1976 |
| Predecessor3: | Charles J. Nelson |
| Successor3: | Donald R. Norland |
| Ambassador From2: | United States |
| Country2: | Lesotho |
| President2: | Richard Nixon Gerald Ford |
| Term Start2: | April 25, 1974 |
| Term End2: | August 11, 1976 |
| Predecessor2: | Charles J. Nelson |
| Successor2: | Donald R. Norland |
| Ambassador From4: | United States |
| Country4: | Botswana |
| President4: | Richard Nixon Gerald Ford |
| Term Start4: | April 11, 1974 |
| Term End4: | August 11, 1976 |
| Predecessor4: | Charles J. Nelson |
| Successor4: | Donald R. Norland |
| Birth Name: | David Benjamin Bolen |
| Birth Date: | 23 December 1923 |
| Birth Place: | Heflin, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S. |
| Children: | 3 |
| Alma Mater: | Southern University University of Colorado Boulder Harvard University |
| Allegiance: |  United States |
| Branch: | Army Air Corps |
| Serviceyears: | 1943–1946 |
David Benjamin Bolen (December 23, 1923 – December 10, 2022) was an American track and field athlete, Olympian, diplomat and businessman.
Bolen competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics in the 400 metres. He finished fourth in the final behind Arthur Wint, Herb McKenley and Mal Whitfield. In 2012, Bolen told The Boulder Daily Camera that "The Olympics is not something you train for. You have to have talent, world-class talent. You have to use that talent for the benefit of yourself and others."[1] Bolen first discovered that he had that talent when he raced other children during an Easter egg hunt during his childhood and found that he was faster. He later decided he wanted to use his "foot speed" to gain a college education.
Bolen graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1950, and was the university's first Olympic athlete.[2] Before serving for two years in the Army Air Force in WWII,[3] he attended Southern University in New Orleans; after his service, he was recruited by CU Boulder track and field coach Frank Potts.[4]
Later, Bolen's career took him to the US State Department. In 1974, President Richard Nixon appointed him ambassador to Swaziland, Lesotho and Botswana simultaneously, while keeping residence in Gaborone. In 1977, the German-speaking Bolen was appointed by President Jimmy Carter and confirmed as US Ambassador to the German Democratic Republic. He was the first African-American to serve as ambassador to a nation behind the Iron Curtain. He served until 1980. As an ambassador to East Germany, Bolen helped to lay the groundwork for the destruction of the Berlin Wall. On November 9, 1989, the day the wall came down, Bolen's daughter, Cynthia, was photographed handing a long-stemmed rose to an East German border guard standing atop the wall.[5] He also worked to help free Nelson Mandela from prison.
Bolen died on December 10, 2022, at the age of 98.[6]
July 8, 1977