Willie Oleson was the son and second child of Nels and Harriet Oleson. He was the younger brother of Nellie Oleson.
Biography[]
Willie lived in Walnut Grove in his family's store. Mischievous and spoiled as a child, Willie caused trouble and played pranks on other children including his own older sister Nellie. It appears that, as a child and in his early teens, Willie had a soft spot for candy and would often try to take candy from his family's store.
He often abused and tormented the Ingalls children. He once bit Mary (Episode 118: Plague) and kicked Laura on one or more occasions (Episode 121: Money Crop). Most of the time, he got into fights and in trouble with Laura Ingalls. He once teased the Ingalls on their state of poverty and their father's lack of profession, which resulted in Laura punching Nellie to the ground and led Willie to nervously take back his mean remarks (Episode 201: The Richest Man in Walnut Grove). If they played marbles and Laura won, he would refuse to hand over his marbles and would argue with her until Miss Beadle came along. Laura once used Willie to try and get a date for the Spring Dance, in exchange for marbles. It showed that Laura can be as equally mean towards him (Episode 206: The Spring Dance).
Willie had a difficult time trying to make friends. He would often had to bribe and barter with the other kids to even get them to talk to him properly. Carl Sanderson Edwards, one of the kids with whom he bartered with never liked him and got him into trouble when he traded some leftover fireworks for some aggies (Episode 216: The Runaway Caboose). Once, some of his so called "friends" tried to get him steal cigars from his family's store (Episode 314: Little Women). These schemes always got him into trouble and Nellie sometimes bribed him to help her with her own schemes, as when Nellie gave Willie a smoke pipe to tell everyone to vote for her, but Willie ends up voting for Elmer Dobkins because Elmer is nicer to him, Nellie keeps picking on him, and Elmer won't let her (Episode 320: The Election).
Willie had a ravenous appetite for food. He was known to go along with his sister's schemes in exchange for food (Episode 305: The Monster of Walnut Grove). He was often seen stealing food from people's plates, like he did with his father when Harriet was out of the house, after leaving over the women's rights petition. His father could never understand where he puts all the food that he eats (Episode 712: Oleson vs Oleson). He was seen experimenting with food when he is seen making a ridiculously overblown sandwich while his parents were out (Episode 801: The Reincarnation of Nellie (Part 1)). Like with Nellie, Willie was rarely punished. He was prevented from being done so by his mother, save for when her image or some precious object of hers was damaged or destroyed (Episode 806: Gambini the Great). His appetite foiled Nancy's plan to use a liquorice shaped revolver to hold up the Walnut Grove Bank to get the ransom money when a pair of kidnappers abducted their parents, when he simply ate it because he got hungry while waiting (Episode 807: The Legend of Black Jake).
It was at school where Willie often got into trouble. He was always being sent to the corner for his behavior by his teachers, Miss Beadle, Mrs. Garvey, Miss Eliza Jane Wilder, and Mrs. Laura Wilder.
He, along with the other Olesons, the Garveys, and the Ingalls move and stay in Winoka for a period of time. Nels and Harriet were the only family who were able to send their children to the Winoka School, which Willie hates because he doesn't like the tie on the uniform and wishes he could go to school with Laura, which Nellie despises (Episode 501: As Long As We're Together (Part 1)).
Willie was sometimes a peeping Tom. On occasion he would look through the woman's underwear catalog, but only when his mother wasn't around (Episode 717: Sylvia (Part 1)). He even tried to watch Laura while she was changing her clothes, but only once (Episode 622: Sweet Sixteen).
Willie later matured into a responsible young man after Laura became his teacher. His major change in attitude came after Laura had collapsed in the field from a heat stroke from overwork, due to Almanzo's absence. Willie demonstrated genuine responsibly in immediately fetching Doctor Baker, which saved her life. Caroline later told him the story Stone Soup. Understanding the moral of the story, he and his classmates filled buckets of water to help irrigate Laura's crop (Episode 813: Stone Soup). Afterwards, he abandoned his old ways and started behaving properly and respectfully.
Willie as a young child
Against his mother's wishes, he married Rachel Brown (Episode 921: May I Have This Dance?).
Personality and Traits[]
As a child, Willie was a troublemaker and followed his sister Nellie's schemes.
Although Willie was very mischievous and sometimes mean, on rare occasions, Willie could be nice. He was seen comforting the saddened and guilt-ridden Miss Beadle, during a devastating blizzard (Episode 311: Blizzard).
Behind the scenes[]
Willie was portrayed by Jonathan Gilbert, who is the adopted brother of Melissa Gilbert.