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Jack Olsen (June 7, 1925 – July 16, 2002) was an American
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
and
author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
known for his crime reporting. Olsen was senior editor-in-chief for the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...
'' in 1954. He was
Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
bureau chief for ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' and a senior editor for ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...
'' in 1961. He was also a regular contributor to other publications, including ''
Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
'' and ''
Vanity Fair Vanity Fair may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Literature * Vanity Fair, a location in '' The Pilgrim's Progress'' (1678), by John Bunyan * ''Vanity Fair'' (novel), 1848, by William Makepeace Thackeray * ''Vanity Fair'' (magazines), the ...
''.


Life and career

Olsen was born in
Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
. He was described as "the dean of true crime
authors An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
" by ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' and the ''
New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ...
'' and "the master of true crime" by the ''
Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primar ...
'' and ''
Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and fo ...
''. ''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' called him "the best true crime writer around." His studies of crime are required reading in university criminology courses and have been cited in the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' Notable Books of the Year. In a page-one review, the ''Times'' described his work as "a genuine contribution to criminology and journalism alike." Books by Olsen have sold 33 million copies. Several of his books examined the intersection of law and politics during the late 1960s and the early 1970s. They include ''Last Man Standing: The Tragedy and Triumph of Geronimo Pratt,'' (
Pratt Pratt is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include: A–F * Abner Pratt (1801–1863), American diplomat, jurist, politician, lawyer * Al Pratt (baseball) (1847–1937), American baseball player * Andy Pratt (baseball) (born 19 ...
, a leader of the
Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxism-Leninism, Marxist-Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. New ...
, was declared innocent and released from prison after serving 25 years on the perjured testimony of a paid FBI informant), and ''The Bridge at Chappaquiddick'' examining the 1969 car crash and death that damaged Senator
Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...
's political career. As
Carl Bernstein Carl Milton Bernstein ( ; born February 14, 1944) is an American investigative journalist and author. While a young reporter for ''The Washington Post'' in 1972, Bernstein was teamed up with Bob Woodward, and the two did much of the original n ...
and
Bob Woodward Robert Upshur Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is an American investigative journalist. He started working for '' The Washington Post'' as a reporter in 1971 and now holds the title of associate editor. While a young reporter for ''The Washingt ...
write in their book ''
All The President's Men ''All the President's Men'' is a 1974 non-fiction book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, two of the journalists who investigated the June 1972 break-in at the Watergate Office Building and the resultant political scandal for ''The Washingto ...
'', the book was one of several checked out of the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
library by E. Howard Hunt in the course of gathering information about Kennedy that could be used against him in the 1972 presidential campaign. Many of Olsen's most popular works investigated the life histories of violent career criminals. These include studies of
serial rapist A serial rapist is someone who commits multiple rapes, whether with multiple victims or a single victim repeatedly over a period of time. Some serial rapists target children. The terms ''sexual predator'', ''repeat rape'' and ''multiple offending ...
s such as
Kevin Coe Kevin Coe (born Frederick Harlan Coe on February 2, 1947http://www.kndo.com/Global/story.asp?S=5347081&nav=menu484_2 KNDO) is an American convicted rapist from Spokane, Washington, often referred to in the news media as the South Hill Rapist. As o ...
(''Son: A Psychopath and his Victims'') and George Russell, (''Charmer''), as well as serial killers (''The Misbegotten Son'' about
Arthur Shawcross Arthur John Shawcross (June 6, 1945 – November 10, 2008), also known as the Genesee River Killer, was an American serial killer active in Rochester, New York from 1972 through 1989. Shawcross's first known murders took place in his hometo ...
and ''Hastened to the Grave: The Gypsy Murder Investigation''). Discussing his lifelong interest in crime journalism, Olsen described a field trip that his college
criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and s ...
class took to a
prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...
: Olsen's work had social conscience. At Sports Illustrated in 1968, he shook the athletic establishment with a series about black athletes and the discrimination they faced in professional and college sports. Olsen's journalism was recognized with the National Headliner Award, the Chicago Newspaper Guild's Page One Award, the Washington State Governor's Award, and the
Scripps-Howard The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is h ...
Award. He was described as "the dean of true crime authors" by ''The Washington Post''. His crime studies remain on required reading lists in university criminology courses. In his obituary, ''The New York Times'' described his work as "a genuine contribution to criminology and journalism alike." Olsen lived on
Bainbridge Island, Washington Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census and an estimated 25,298 in 2019, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. ...
, and died on July 16, 2002.


Books


Fiction

*''Alphabet Jackson'' (1974) *''Massy's Game'' (1976) *''The Secret of Fire 5'' (1977) *''Night Watch'' (1979) *''Missing Persons'' (1981) *''Have You Seen My Son?'' (1982)


Memoirs

* ''Over the Fence is Out'' (1961) * ''The Pitcher's Kid'' (2002)


Nonfiction

*''The Climb up to Hell'' (1962) *''Black is Best'' (1967) *''Silence on Monte Sole'' (1968) *''Night of the Grizzlies'' (1969) *''Aphrodite: Desperate Mission'' (1969) *''The Bridge at Chappaquiddick'' (1970) *''The Man with the Candy'' (1974) *''Son: A Psychopath and his Victims'' (1983) *''Give a Boy a Gun'' (1985) *''Cold Kill'' (1987) *''Doc: The Rape of the Town of Lovell'' (1989) *''Predator: Rape, Madness, and Injustice in Seattle'' (1991) *''The Misbegotten Son'' (1993) *''Charmer'' (1994) *''Salt of the Earth'' (1996) *''Hasten to the Grave'' (1998) *''I: The Creation of a Serial Killer'' (1998) *''The Happy Face Killer'' (2008)


Games and sports

*''The Mad World of Bridge'' *''The Mad World of Bridge'' (Sports Illustrated) *''The Climb up to Hell'' (Harper & Row, 1962), 212 pp. – mountaineering *''Bridge is My Life: Lessons of a Lifetime, 189 pp. – "by Chas. H. Goren, with Jack Olson" * ''Black is Best: The Riddle of Cassius Clay'' (Putnam, 1967) ; UK edition ''Cassius Clay: A biography'' (Pelham, 1967) – biography of
Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, ...
:In 1967, Olsen released his authorized biography of Muhammad Ali, titled, ''Black is Best: The Riddle of Cassius Clay''. From the book flap cover, Olsen, writes, "Cassius Clay is far more important as an American phenomenon of the 1960s than as a prizefighter. In his career as a boxer, he followed a traditional, even a stereotyped road to the top for a Negro, but his distortion of the American rags-to-riches story is peculiarly his own." Olsen spent a considerable amount of time around the boxer, subjecting him to several interviews over a two-year time period. Olsen also interviews family members, past training staff, doctors, promoters, and over twenty different sources who worked with Ali. ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...
'' called it "the best biography of a sports figure published to date".Werner, M.R. "Cassius-muhammad Is Portrayed With Penetration, Compassion And Wit"
''Sports Illustrated''. March 13, 1967. Retrieved July 23, 2012. * ''The Black Athlete: A Shameful Story; the myth of integration in American sports'' (Time-Life Books, 1968), 223 pp. . * Fran Tarkenton. ''Better Scramble Than Lose'' (Four Winds, 1969) – "by Fran Tarkenton as told to Jack Olsen"


History, politics, and sociology

*'' Night of the Grizzlies'' (1969) *''Silence on Monte Sole'' (1968) *''Aphrodite: Desperate Mission'' (1970) *''The Bridge at Chappaquiddick'' (1970) *''Slaughter the Animals, Poison the Earth'', illustrated by Laszlo Kubinyi (Simon & Schuster, 1971) –
LCSH The Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) comprise a thesaurus (in the information science sense, a controlled vocabulary) of subject headings, maintained by the United States Library of Congress, for use in bibliographic records. LC Subject ...
Coyote; Predatory animals—control; Wildlife conservation *''The Girls in the Office'' (1972) *''The Girls on the Campus'' (1974) *''Sweet Street: The Autobiography of an American Honkytonk Scene'' (1974) *''Last Man Standing: The Tragedy and Triumph of Geronimo Pratt' (2000)


Crime

*''The Man with the Candy: The Story of the Houston Mass Murders'' (1974) *''Son: A Psychopath and His Victims'' (1983) Edgar Award winner *'' Give a Boy a Gun'' (1985) *''Cold Kill: The True Story of a Murderous Love'' (1987) *''Doc: The Rape of the Town of Lovell'' (1989) Edgar Award winner *''Predator: Rape, Madness, and Injustice in Seattle'' (1991) American Mystery Award winner *''The Misbegotten Son: A Serial Killer and His Victims'' (1993) *''Charmer: A Ladies' Man and his Victims'' (1994) *''Salt of the Earth'' (1996) *''Hastened to the Grave'' (1998) *''I: The Creation of a Serial Killer'' (2002)


References


External links


Jack Olsen Special Collection.
Archive of author's personal papers, University of Oregon Libraries.

Andrew Vachss Andrew Henry Vachss ( ; October 19, 1942 – November 23, 2021) was an American crime fiction author, child protection consultant, and attorney exclusively representing children and youths. Early life and career Vachss grew up in Manhattan o ...
, ''New York Times Book Review,'' March 14, 1993. Review of Olsen's book, ''The Misbegotten Son''.
''Jack Olsen,''
Author's biographical entry at HistoryLink
The Jack Olsen Homepage
*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Olsen, Jack 1925 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists American crime writers American male journalists American male novelists American non-fiction crime writers American sportswriters Chicago Sun-Times people Contract bridge writers Criminal investigation Edgar Award winners Novelists from Indiana Time (magazine) people