Mr. Olson was first published by the Houghton
Mifflin Company in 1973. His fiction has
won the Border Regional Library Association
fiction award for literary excellence and
enriching the cultural heritage of the Southwest,
The Evelyn Oppenheimer "Oppie"
for best historical novel of the year, and
the Council for Wisconsin Writers best novel
of the year. His novel, The Vagabond Healer, has been nominated for the 2008 Pulitzer
Prize!
His book-length fiction covers historical
fiction, police action thrillers, and mainstream
fiction. The Chicago Daily News has said,
"Olson shows early acquisition of a
prose style both dignified and detached;
. . .cadenced and somber, well suited to
the subject matter. . ."
In addition to novels, Mr. Olson has published
numerous short stories and articles in national
magazines. With Thomas R. Watson, Ph.D.,
he has written a non-fiction self help book
for those struggling with an excess of debt,
From Debt To Wealth.
Since his father was a career
soldier, Mr.
Olson grew up as the proverbial
Army Brat.
His first excursion into the
military world
was a two year sojourn in Osaka,
Japan where
he attended the Osaka American
Schools for
the sixth and seventh grades.
Then he lived
a year in Morganfield, Kentucky
while his
father was stationed at Camp
Breckenridge.
From there his family moved to
Mainz, Germany
(where Gutenberg is credited
with the invention
of a method of printing from
movable type
- do you suppose this is where
he gained
his love of books and writing?).
The General
H.H. Arnold American High School
was located
across the Rhine River in Wiesbaden,
Germany
where he enjoyed the pleasures
of German
hospitality and cuisine until
the middle
of his senior year, when he returned
to the
U.S.
Mr. Olson credits the opportunity
to live
in and enjoy diverse cultures
with many of
his insights into the human condition.
The
travel and the making of many
new friends
were an experience he would not
trade for
any other life style.
After High School graduation and a tour in
the Marine Corps, Mr. Olson attended Marquette
University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where
he studied engineering. After college he
traveled to Arizona where he bought a horse
and went into the mountains to research the
locales of his first novel, Ulzana. Eventually he settled in Wisconsin, married,
and had twin sons. His writing career was
interrupted when he was given custody of
his sons and had to devote his time to learning
how to be a "housewife" and "mother".
Since his sons have grown and have become
responsible for their own lives, he has resumed
his dedication to writing. For the last several
years he has been living in East Texas where
he is working on another novel.
His most recent novel, The Vagabond Healer, the story of a man who becomes a social
outcast because he has the ability to heal
people's bodies and souls, was released in
March 2007. In October 2007 Jim learned that
The Vagabond Healer had been nominated for
the Pulitzer Prize. We will keep our fingers
crossed until the winners are announced in
April 2008.
We look forward to all of his
new works,
as we're certain you do.
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