A broad and relatively unstructured electronic excitation spectrum has been observed for the OH-CO reactant complex in the OH A-X (1,0) region by laser-induced fluorescence and fluorescence depletion methods. The electronic spectrum spans from 33 500 to 36 050 cm(-1) and peaks near 34 600 cm(-1). Fluorescence depletion methods have been employed to demonstrate that the broad electronic spectrum originates from the same linear, hydrogen-bonded OH-CO complex that gives rise to a rotationally resolved infrared spectrum. The electronic spectrum is consistent with a Franck-Condon mapping of the ground state radial distribution on a strongly attractive excited state potential that undergoes rapid decay dynamics. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.