Olivier Weber (born 1958) is a French writer, novelist and reporter at large, known primarily for his coverage of the wars in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. He has been a

war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...

for twenty-five years, especially in Central Asia, Africa,

Middle-East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and

. He is an assistant professor at the

Institut d'études politiques de Paris Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

, president of the Prize Joseph Kessel and today ambassador of France at large. Weber has won several national and international awards of literature and journalism, in particular for his stories on Afghanistan and for his books on wars. His novels, travels writing books and essays have been translated in a dozen of languages.

Biography

Weber, born in 1958 in Montluçon, studied economics and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

, University of Paris Sorbonne,

University of Nice A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

(PhD) and at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, INALCO). He won the Albert Londres Prize and Joseph Kessel Prize for his reports on wars and books.

The guerrilla years

Assistant professor at the

(Sciences-Po), he began his career in journalism in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Then he was sent in Africa for the French daily ''Liberation'', to cover several wars and conflicts. He joined the French weekly ''

Le Point ''Le Point'' () is a French weekly political and conservative news magazine published in Paris. It is one of the three major French news magazines. ''Le Point'' was founded in 1972 by former journalists of ''L'Express'' and quickly rose to be ...

'' as a journalist and later was appointed foreign correspondent. As a

, he has traveled with dozens of

guerrillas Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

and armed movements. He has covered around twenty wars and conflicts, including wars and armed conflicts in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, the

Palestinian territories The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine ...

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

, Russia,

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

, and

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

. He has interviewed among others the

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...

, Indian President

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian statesman and pilot who served as the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the Assassination of Indira Gandhi, assassination of his mother, then–prime ...

, Pakistani Prime Minister

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto (21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996. She was also the first woman elected to head a democratic governmen ...

, Pakistani President

Pervez Musharraf Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as ...

, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Commander

Ahmad Shah Massoud Ahmad Shāh Massoud (2 September 19539 September 2001) was an Afghan militant leader and politician. He was a guerrilla commander during the resistance against the Soviet occupation during the Soviet–Afghan War from 1979 to 1989. In the 19 ...

, Iraki President Jalal Talabani, Philippines President

Corazon Aquino María Corazón "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipino politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines and the first woman president in the country, from Presidency of Corazon ...

, President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Massud Barzani and Afghan President

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan politician who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, including as the first president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014. He previously served a ...

. His style as a writer is sometimes compared to that of Conrad, Chatwin and Cendrars. He has traveled the world, from the United States to China and from Africa to the East, which became his passion. He brought from these trips and stays several stories, surveys and novels, including ''Dragon Hunters: Opiomistan trip'', and ''The White Death'' on the world of drug dealers.]

The committed writer

Committed writer, Olivier Weber has written on a lot of lost causes and indigenous people. He has defended in particular the resistance of South Sudan and has denounced the slavery of Sudanese children. He participated at the operations of saving the boat people, in the China Sea, with volunteers of the international NGO Doctors of the World ( Médecins du Monde). He has also defended the Afghan

mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' (), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' (), an Arabic term that broadly refers to people who engage in ''jihad'' (), interpreted in a jurisprudence of Islam as the fight on behalf of God, religion or the commun ...

during the war against the Soviet army and then against the pro-communist regime of Najibullah and had traveled several times with the rebels and Commander Massoud. After criticizing the regime of the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

, he was expelled from

by the militias of Mollah Umar. His denunciation of human trafficking by the

Tamil Tigers The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eela ...

and disposal of their prisoners, after several trips to the bush, brought him new threats. The plane he was to take from

Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

was deliberately shot down by fighters of the armed movement. Following an expedition with one of the Burmese guerrillas, he met secretly in

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

the opposition leader

. After winning the award Joseph-Kessel Prize, he was nominated president of the prize in 2001. In August 2001, he traveled to Central Asia to launch a humanitarian mission in the Panjshir Valley and bring to

proofs of his book ''The Afghan Hawk''. A few days later, 9 September 2001, two days before the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Lion of Panjshir was assassinated by two terrorists of

Al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

. Olivier Weber was to attend his funeral, when the Taliban launched a major offensive. His testimony and his denunciation of the Taliban regime and the rise of Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia have earned him death threats. He has published several books on Central Asia and the

Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...

: ''The Great Feast of the East'', ''The Afghan Hawk: a journey to the land of the Taliban'', ''Memory Murdered'', ''Road of Drugs'', ''The White Death''. He has denounced the impunity of the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and by extension to Democratic Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihano ...

in the mountains of western

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

, after meeting the underground movement leaders Ieng Sary and

Khieu Samphan Khieu Samphan (; born 28 July 1931) is a Cambodian former communist politician and economist who was the chairman of the state presidium of Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia) from 1976 until 1979. As such, he served as Cambodia's head of state a ...

, both former deputies of

Pol Pot Pol Pot (born Saloth Sâr; 19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998) was a Cambodian politician, revolutionary, and dictator who ruled the communist state of Democratic Kampuchea from 1976 until Cambodian–Vietnamese War, his overthrow in 1979. During ...

. In May 2009, he presented the Joseph-Kessel Prize to the writer and member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

Érik Orsenna for his fight for water and his latest book. The film of his book

Cursed for Gold ''Cursed for Gold'' () is a 2008 in film, 2008 French documentary film written and directed by the French writer and novelist Olivier Weber, former war correspondent, dealing with the new gold rush destroying the Amazon rainforest. Overview A ...

(La Fièvre de l'or), a travelogue on human trafficking in the Amazon and other traffickings related to deforestation and the massacre of Native Americans, was the subject of remarkable press and has been described as a witness in the vein of '' Darwin's Nightmare'' and ''

Blood Diamond Blood diamonds (also called conflict diamonds, brown diamonds, hot diamonds, or red diamonds) are diamonds mined in a war zone and sold to finance an insurgency, an invading army's war efforts, terrorism, or a warlord's activity. The term is u ...

''. His essay on Joseph Kessel, "Kessel, The Eternal Nomad", highlights the commitment of the reporter and member of the French Academy. He has also written the biographies of Joseph Conrad, Jack London and Ella Maillart. He is a member of the Albert Londres Award's jury. Author and writer of documentaries, he is also editor of the series "Writers travelers".

The ambassador

Olivier Weber was nominated in 2008 to be ambassador of France at large, in charge of human trafficking and human rights. He has done several dozens of missions for this task in Asia, Africa, Central America, Middle East, and advocates at the tribune of the United Nations mainly on human trafficking, child soldiers, fight against drugs, civil society and human rights. He is a lecturer (maître de conférences) at the Institute of Political Studies of Paris (

or Sciences-Po), where he teaches the

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...

. He has completed from 1983 to 2011 more than 20 terrain-researches as a war observer in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Algeria, Syria, Erytrea, Sudan, Iran, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan. He has received several awards and prizes of literature and journalism, among them the prestigious Albert Londres Prize, considered the French Pulitzer prize, for his articles and reports. and the Joseph Kessel Prize for his books. He is a selection committee member for literature awards and member of the Société des Explorateurs Français (Society of the French Explorers).

Literature and journalism prizes and awards

* Prize Lazareff 1991 * Prix Albert Londres 1992 * Special Prize of War correspondents 1997 * Second Prize of War correspondents 1997 * Prize Joseph Kessel 1998 * Prize Mumm 1999 * Prize of Adventure 1999 * Graduate of the Foundation Journalist Tomorrow * Prize of the FIPA (International Festival of Audiovisual Programmes) 2001 * Laureate of Audiovisual 2001 * Prize Louis Pauwels 2002 * Special Prize of the International Festival of News Reporting (Festival international de grand reportage d'actualités) 2003 * Prize of the Public of the International Festival of News Reporting (Festival international de grand reportage d'actualités) 2003 * Prize Cabourg 2004 * Prize of the Academy of Vichy 2005 * Laureate of the fellowship "Writers Stendhal", 2001 and 2005 * Trophy of the Adventure for the film ''Cursed for Gold'' (''La Fièvre de l'or''), adapted from his book ''I will have gold'' (''J'aurai de l'or'') on Amazonia, 2008 * Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur en 2009 * Prize Terra Festival 2010 * Prize

Amerigo Vespucci Amerigo Vespucci ( , ; 9 March 1454 – 22 February 1512) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Florence for whom "Naming of the Americas, America" is named. Vespucci participated in at least two voyages of the A ...

2011 * Prize of the Novelists 2016 * Special Prize of the International Adventure Film Festival, La Rochelle, 2017 * Jury Prize, Meeting of Adventure, 2017 * Prize of the European and Mediterranean Book 2017 * Pierre Loti Prize, 2023

Novels, essays and travel writing books

* In the eye of the archangel, Life and death of Gerda Taro, (Dans l'oeil de l'archange) (Calmann-Lévy, 2023) * Birth of a European Nation - Reflections on the Ukrainian Question (Naissance d'une nation européenne- Réflexions sur la question ukrainienne)(Aube, 2022) * Massoud, the murdered rebel (Massoud, le rebelle assassiné (Aube, 2021) * In the Kingdom of Light, A travel in Himalaya (Au Royaume de la lumière) (Terre Humaine, 2020). * If I forget you Kurdistan (Si je t'oublie Kurdistan) (Aube, 2020) * The Hinterland (L'Arrière-pays) (Calmann-Lévy, 2020) * Borders (Frontières) (Paulsen, 2016) * Jack London, The Call of the big spleen dreams (Paulsen, 2016) * The Enchantment of the World (L'Enchantement du monde) (Flammarion, 2015) * Massoud's Confession (La Confession de Massoud) (Flammarion, 2013) * The Unpunished, A travel in the banality of evil (Les Impunis) (Robert Laffont, 2013) * The Barbary Corsair (Le Barbaresque) (Flammarion, 2011) * Conrad, the Traveller of concern (Arthaud-Flammarion, 2011) * I will have gold (J'aurai de l'or) (Robert Laffont, 2008) * Is Tibet a lost cause? (Le Tibet est-il une cause perdue?), (Larousse, 2008) * The White Death (La mort blanche) (Albin Michel, 2007) * On the Silk Roads (Sur les routes de la soie) (avec Reza, (Hoëbeke, 2007) * Kessel, the eternal nomad (Kessel, le nomade éternel) (Arthaud, 2006) * The Angels battle (La Bataille des anges) (Albin Michel, 2006) * The Big Feast of the East (Le grand festin de l'Orient) (Robert Laffont, 2004) * Memory murdered (La Mémoire assassinée) (Mille et une nuits, 2004) * I am from nowhere: on the tracks of Ella Maillart (Je suis de nulle part : sur les traces d’Ella Maillart), (Éditions Payot, 2003) * Humanitaires (Le Félin, 2002) * La mémoire assassinée (Mille et Une Nuits, 2001) * Le faucon afghan : un voyage au pays des talibans (Robert Laffont, 2001) * On ne se tue pas pour une femme (Plon, 2000) * Dragon Hunters: a stay in Opiumistan (Chasseurs de dragons : voyage en Opiomie) (Payot), 2000) * The Slave children (Les Enfants esclaves) (Mille et une nuits, 1999) * Lucien Bodard, un aventurier dans le siècle (Plon, 1997) * Road of drugs (La route de la drogue) (

Arléa Arléa is a French publishing house created in 1986. Arléa publishes thirty new titles each year, including pocket ones. His catalog contains more than a thousand titles: the great classics of Antiquity (whether Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Sanskrit or ...

, 1996) * French doctors : L’épopée des hommes et des femmes qui ont inventé la médecine humanitaire (Robert Laffont, 1995) * Voyage au pays de toutes les Russies (Éditions Quai Voltaire, 1992)

Filmography

Olivier Weber is the author, director and screenwriter of several films for television and theater, in particular on travels and on writers. * Documentary : Sudan: The Slave Children, France 2, 1998 * Documentary : The Opium of talibans, French channels and theaters, 2001, Special Prize of FIPA * Documentary : Return to Cambodia, France 5, 2002 3 * Documentary : On the road of Ganga, Arte, 2003, prize of the Public of FIGRA and Prize of Image of Figra * Documentary : On the road of Nile, France 5, 2007 * Documentary : The People of Opium (Le Peuple de l'opium), Canal Plus, 2007 * Documentary :

(La Fièvre de l'Or), Canal Plus and France 2, in French theaters in October 2008Cursed for Gold Cannes Film Festival http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5cvnl_cursed-for-gold-the-new-gold-rush-i_shortfilms * Documentary : Blood-red Gemstones, (Les Rubis des khmers rouges), France 2, 2011 * Documentary : The World seen from the train, French channels, 2010–2016 * Documentary : Beyond the light, France 3, 2017 * Documentary : Mustang, France 5 and Voyage, 2020.

References

External links

* Albert Londres Prize, journalism award for the"best reporter in the written press"
Olivier Weber's biography

Article of Lire
*
Article of L'Express

The Prize Joseph Kessel

Amazing Travellers

Geopolicy of Global Trafficking

Info Culture : A travel writer and reporter at large

The Prize Kessel au Amazing Travellers Festival

A travel as Cendrars

Cannes Film Festival Screening

Officiel site of the movie La Fièvre de l'or

National Center of the Book

Alchemy damages the Amazon Basin

Article in Le Figaro

Center of Research on Literature of Travel

Evene.fr : The Gold and the blood
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weber, Olivier French male novelists French travel writers Postmodern writers 21st-century travel writers War correspondents of the Iraq War War correspondents of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) French war correspondents 1958 births 20th-century French novelists 21st-century French novelists 20th-century French journalists 21st-century French journalists French historical novelists Albert Londres Prize recipients Joseph Kessel Prize recipients Ambassadors of France People from Montluçon School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences alumni Knights of the Legion of Honour French documentary film directors University of San Francisco alumni Academic staff of Sciences Po French male essayists 20th-century French essayists 21st-century French essayists Living people 20th-century French male writers 21st-century French male writers