Gregg Olsen


Gregg Olsen is an American author best known for his nonfiction books and novels in the true crime and thriller genres. Often examining survival, justice, family trauma, and the psychology of crime, his books have appeared often on bestseller lists of The New York Times, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal. Subjects of his true crime books include convicted child rapist and school teacher Mary Kay Letourneau, product tampering killer Stella Nickell, fasting specialist Linda Burfield Hazzard, and former Amishman and convicted murderer Eli Stutzman.

Career

Olsen has received awards and acclaim for his writing. The Deep Dark: Disaster and Redemption in America's Richest Silver Mine was selected as Idaho Book of the Year in 2006 by the Idaho Libraries Association and was a finalist for a Spur Award for best contemporary historical nonfiction book by the Western Writers of America. In 2007, The Deep Dark was also selected by Boise State University as its first-year read for incoming freshmen. Starvation Heights was selected by the Washington State Library and the Washington Secretary of State for its annual Everybody Reads literary program for books that contribute to the culture of the state.
Starvation Heights, a crime novel, was adapted for the stage by Portland, Oregon, playwright Ginny Foster and debuted at the National New Play Festival in July 2008. It was announced in January 2009 that the book was optioned for a film adaptationby by producer Jason Fogelson and Pulitzer Prize-winner and screenwriter Tracy Letts. It was also listed as a New York Times bestseller at number 7 on December 28, 2014, in e-book nonfiction.
Olsen's novel, Envy, was selected by Washington State Library for the Pavilion of the States display at the 2012 National Book Festival.

Appearances

Olsen has appeared on Good Morning America, The Early Show, Court TV, Entertainment Tonight, CNN, FOX News, 48 Hours, and other US and international TV programs discussing criminal cases.
Globally, he appeared in 2012 as a presenter and panelist at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival and, the same year, at the Cheltenham Literature Festival in the United Kingdom.

Awards

Starvation Heights, originally published in 1997, reached number 9 on The New York Times bestseller list in the crime-and-punishment category on February 14, 2016.
Victim Six debuted on USA Today's bestseller list on October 2, 2014, with Closer Than Blood debuting the week of April 14, 2011, on USA Today's bestseller list, where it remained for three weeks.
Bodies of Evidence, the first in a book series titled Notorious USA, which Olsen wrote with co-author Rebecca Morris, debuted the week of September 22, 2013, at number 16 on The New York Times bestseller list in e-book nonfiction
If Loving You is Wrong, one of Olsen's Crime Rant Classics releases, made The New York Times bestseller list in e-book nonfiction at number 4 the week of August 18, 2013, and USA Today's bestseller list on August 8, 2013. It also made The Wall Street Journal's list, debuting at number 7 in the nonfiction e-book category the week of August 8, 2013.
A Shocking True Story, released in 2013, was number 9 for two weeks on The New York Times bestseller list in e-book nonfiction the weeks of June 5 and June 16, 2013.
His first The [New York Times Best Seller list|New York Times] bestseller was Abandoned Prayers, which was number 11 for two weeks beginning the week of July 6, 2003, in paperback best sellers.

Personal life

Olsen lives in rural Olalla, Washington, with his wife, a graphic designer.

Nonfiction

  • By the River's Edge: A True Story of Identity and Serial Murder, about a cold-case serial murder investigation
  • If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood, about Michelle Knotek
  • A Killing in Amish Country: Sex, Betrayal, and a Cold-blooded Murder, about the murder of Barbara Weaver by her husband Eli
  • A Twisted Faith, about Nick Hacheney, a philandering minister who killed his wife, Dawn
  • The Deep Dark, about the 1972 Sunshine mine fire in Kellogg, Idaho
  • Starvation Heights, about Linda Burfield Hazzard
  • Cruel Deception, aka, Mockingbird, the case of Munchausen by Proxy mom Tanya Thaxton Reid
  • If Loving You is Wrong, the story of Mary Kay Letourneau
  • Abandoned Prayers, about the Eli Stutzman case, aka Little Boy Blue of Chester, Nebraska
  • Bitter Almonds, the story of convicted product tampering killer Stella Nickell. Also published under the title American Mother
  • American Black Widow, about Sharon Lynn Nelson, also published under the title The Confessions of an American Black Widow
  • The Amish Wife, about Ida Stutzman, Eli Stutzman case
  • If I Can't Have You: Susan Powell, Her Mysterious Disappearance, and the Murder of Her Children
  • Out of the Woods, about Shasta Groene, who was kidnapped and tortured by Joseph Edward Duncan

    Novels

  • A Wicked Snow
  • A Cold Dark Place
  • Heart of Ice
  • Victim Six
  • Closer Than Blood
  • Envy
  • The Bone Box
  • Betrayal
  • Fear Collector
  • Shocking True Story
  • Run
  • The Girl in the Woods
  • Now That She's Gone
  • Just Try to Stop Me
  • The Sound of Rain
  • The Weight of Silence
  • The Boy She Left Behind
  • The Last Thing She Ever Did
  • Lying Next to Me
  • The Hive
  • I Know Where You Live