Theodore Victor Olsen (April 25, 1932 in

Rhinelander, Wisconsin Rhinelander is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, Wisconsin, Oneida County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 8,285 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History The area that eventually became the city of Rhine ...

– July 13, 1993 in Rhinelander) was an American

western fiction Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 20th century and ...

author. The films ''

The Stalking Moon ''The Stalking Moon'' is a 1968 American Western film in Technicolor directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Gregory Peck and Eva Marie Saint. It is based on the novel of the same name by T.V. Olsen. Plot U.S. Army soldiers round up a grou ...

'' and ''

Soldier Blue ''Soldier Blue'' is a 1970 American Revisionist Western film directed by Ralph Nelson and starring Candice Bergen, Peter Strauss, and Donald Pleasence. Adapted by John Gay from the novel ''Arrow in the Sun'' by T.V. Olsen, it is inspired by even ...

'' were based on his works.

Biography

Olsen's family migrated from Norway in 1901. Theodore Olsen was born on April 25, 1932 in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. He went to school in Rhinelander and began to write in high school. He began a Western novel at that time. He went to college in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Olsen finally finished his novel, ''Haven of the Hunted'', and it was published in 1956. He also began to sell Western stories to

pulp magazines Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

at this time. Though he occasionally traveled west, he lived his whole life in Rhinelander and used exhaustive research to help accurately portray scenes of the West in his stories. Olsen was married to fellow fiction author Beverly Butler. Olsen died in Rhinelander on July 13, 1993, and several works were published posthumously. Much of Olsen's family still lives in the Rhinelander region. They own a ranch with a century-old farm house and dairy barn.

Bibliography

Novels

Western * ''Haven of the Hunted'', Ace Books 1956, new ed. Chivers Press 6/2000, * ''The Man from Nowhere'', Ace 1959, new ed. Chivers 3/1992, * ''McGivern'',

Gold Medal Books Gold Medal Books, launched by Fawcett Publications in 1950, was an American book publisher known for introducing paperback originals, a publishing innovation at the time. Fawcett was also an independent newsstand distributor, and in 1949 the c ...

1960, new ed. Thorndike Press 4/2001, * ''High Lawless'', Fawcett 1960, new ed. Sagebush Westerns 7/2010, * ''Gunswift'', Fawcett Books 1960, new ed. Center Point Print 7/2006, * ''Brand of the Star'', Fawcett Gold Medal 1961, new ed. Thorndike 4/2011, * ''Ramrod Rider'', Fawcett Gold Medal 1961, new ed. Center Point 9/2005, * ''Savage Sierra'', Gold Medal 1963, new ed. Thorndike 3/1998, * ''A Man Called Brazos'', Fawcett Gold Medal 1964, new ed. Gunsmoke Westerns 8/2005, * ''Canyon of the Gun'', Fawcett Gold Medal 1965, new ed. Gunsmoke 9/2007, * ''The Stalking Moon'',

Doubleday (publisher) Doubleday is an American publishing company. It was founded as the Doubleday & McClure Company in 1897 and was the largest in the United States by 1947. It published the work of mostly U.S. authors under a number of imprints and distributed th ...

1965, new ed.

Leisure Books Leisure Books was a mass market paperback publisher specializing in horror and thrillers that operated from 1957 to 2010. In the company's early years, it also published fantasy, science fiction, Westerns, and the Wildlife Treasury card series ...

5/2010, * ''The Hard Men'', Star Weekly Novel 1966, new ed. Gunsmoke 7/2001, * ''Blizzard Pass'', Fawcett 1/1968, new ed. Thorndike 10/2004, * ''Soldier Blue'' a.k.a. ''Arrow in the Sun'', Star Weekly 1970, new ed. Thorndike * ''The Burning Sky'', Star Weekly 1/1971, new ed. Chivers 5/1998, * ''A Man Named Yuma'', Gold Medal 1/1971, new ed. Chivers 3/2011, * ''Bitter Grass'',

Sphere Books Sphere Books is the name of two British paperback publishers. History The original Sphere Books was launched in 1966 by Thomson Corporation. Sphere was sold to Pearson PLC in 1985 and became part of Penguin. The name was retired in 1990. In 19 ...

4/1971, * ''There Was a Season'', Doubleday 1972 * ''Summer of the Drums'', Doubleday 1972 ** * ''Mission to the West'', Ace 1/1973, new ed. Leisure 9/1997, * ''Eye of the Wolf'', Sphere 3/1973, * ''Run to the Mountain'', Fawcett Gold Medal 1/1974, new ed. Gunsmoke 11/2008, * ''Starbuck's Brand'',

Belmont Tower Tower Publications was an American publisher based in New York City that operated from 1958 to c. 1981. Originally known for their Midwood Books line of erotic men's fiction, it also published science fiction and fantasy under its Tower Books line ...

1974, new ed. Leisure 11/1997, * ''Day of the Buzzard'', Fawcett Gold Medal 1/1976, new ed. Gunsmoke 1/2009, * ''Westward They Rode'', Ace 1/1976, new ed. Leisure 7/1996, * ''Track the Man Down'', Manor Books 1976, new ed. Leisure 10/1998, * ''Bonner's Stallion'', Fawcett Gold Medal 1/1977, new ed. Center Point May 2010, * ''Rattlesnake'', Doubleday 2/1979, * ''The Lockhart Breed'',

Walker & Company Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a U ...

3/1982, * ''Red is the River'', Fawcett 1/1983, * ''Lazlo's Strike'', Doubleday 1/1983, new ed. Gunsmoke 2/2010, * ''Blood of the Breed'', Ulverscroft Print 1/1985, * ''Lonesome Gun'', Fawcett 10/1985, * ''Blood Rage'', Ballantine Books 6/1987, * ''A Killer is Waiting'', Fawcett 2/1988, * ''Break the Young Land'',

Avon Books Avon Publications is one of the leading publishers of romance fiction. At Avon's initial stages, it was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. The shift in content occurred in the early 1970s with multiple Avon romance titles rea ...

1988, new ed. Center Point 9/2004, * ''Under the Gun'', Fawcett 9/1989, * ''Keno'', Chivers 4/1991, * ''The Golden Chance'', Fawcett 9/1992, * ''Deadly Pursuit'', Thorndike 8/1995, , sequel to ''Golden Chance'' * ''Treasures of the Sun'', Five Star Publishing Westerns 11/1998, * ''The Lost Colony'', Five Star 9/1999, * ''The Vanishing Herd'', Five Star 5/2001, Other Novels * ''Brothers of the Sword'', Berkley Books 1962 (

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...

)

Anthologies

* ''War Whoop and Battle Cry'', collection of stories together with Clifton Adams,

Clay Fisher Henry Wilson "Heck" Allen (September 12, 1912 – October 26, 1991) was an American author and screenwriter. He used several different pseudonyms for his works. His 50+ novels of the American West were published under the pen names Will Henry an ...

and

Luke Short Luke Lamar Short (January22, 1854September8, 1893) was an American Old West gunfighter, cowboy, U.S. Army scout, dispatch rider, gambler, boxing promoter, and saloon owner. He survived numerous gunfights, the most famous of which were agains ...

, edited by Brian Garfield,

Scholastic Corporation Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...

1/1968 * ''Lone Hand (Frontier Stories)'', Thorndike 6/1998, * ''Man without a Past (Frontier Stories)'', Five Star 11/2001,

Non-fiction

Rhinelander Country series # ''Roots of the North'', Pineview Publishing 1979 # ''Birth of a City'', Pineview 1983, # ''Our First Hundred Years'', Pineview 1983

Filmography

* ''

'', 1968 directed by

Robert Mulligan Robert Patrick Mulligan (August 23, 1925 – December 20, 2008) was an American director and producer. He is best known for his humanist dramas, including ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' (1962), '' Summer of '42'' (1971), ''The Other'' (1972), '' Same ...

, with Gregory Peck and

Eva Marie Saint Eva Marie Saint (born July 4, 1924) is an American actress of film, theatre and television. In a career spanning over 70 years, she has won an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award, alongside nominations for a Golden Globe Award and two Brit ...

* ''

'', 1970 directed by

Ralph Nelson Ralph Nelson (August 12, 1916 – December 21, 1987) was an American film and television director, producer, writer, and actor. He was best known for directing '' Lilies of the Field'' (1963), '' Father Goose'' (1964), and '' Charly'' (1968 ...

, with

Peter Strauss Peter Lawrence Strauss (born February 20, 1947) is an American television and film actor, known for his roles in several television miniseries in the 1970s and 1980s. He is five-time Golden Globe Awards nominee. Early life Strauss was born in C ...

and

Candice Bergen Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the title character on the CBS sitcom ''Murphy Brown'' (1988–1998, 2018). She is also kno ...

Awards

* 1992:

Golden Spur Award Spur Awards are literary prizes awarded annually by the Western Writers of America (WWA). The purpose of the Spur Awards is to honor writers for distinguished writing about the American West. The Spur awards began in 1953, the same year the WWA wa ...

in the category Paperback Original for ''Golden Chance''

References

External links

* http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/o/t-v-olsen/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Olsen, Theodore V. Western (genre) writers 20th-century American novelists American male novelists 1932 births 1993 deaths People from Rhinelander, Wisconsin American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers Novelists from Wisconsin 20th-century American male writers