Olson, Steve E. 1956-

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OLSON, Steve E. 1956-

PERSONAL:

Born September 5, 1956, in San Diego, CA; son of Frank (an accountant) and Diane (a day care administrator; maiden name, Taylor) Olson; married Lynn Richman (an education writer), June 8, 1980; children: Eric, Sarah. Ethnicity: "Mixed." Education: Yale University, B.A., 1978. Politics: Independent. Religion: Unitarian-Universalist. Hobbies and other interests: Swimming.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—Rafe Sagalyn, 7201 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 675, Bethesda, MD 20814. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Freelance writer, 1978-88; White House Science Office, Washington, DC, writer, 1988-91; freelance writer, 1991—.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Nomination for National Book Award, nonfiction category, National Book Foundation, 2002, for Mapping Human History: Discovering the Past through Our Genes.

WRITINGS:

Biotechnology: An Industry Comes of Age, National Academy Press (Washington, DC), 1986.

Shaping the Future: Biology and Human Values, National Academy Press (Washington, DC), 1989.

Mapping Human History: Discovering the Past through Our Genes, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2002.

Contributor to magazines, including Atlantic Monthly, Science, Washingtonian, Teacher, Washington Monthly, Astronomy, and Discovery Channel Online.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

A narrative account of the Forty-second International Mathematical Olympiad, publication expected in 2004; research on genetics and behavior.

SIDELIGHTS:

Steve E. Olson told CA: "I grew up in a small cattle-ranching, wheat-growing town in eastern Washington State, came east to college, and have lived in Washington, DC, ever since. Maybe my small-town roots account for my fascination with going to new places and learning new things. I've always been interested in math and science, partly because of the new worlds they opened up to me when I was a child. I can remember reading about famous mathematicians as a kid and marveling at those long-ago men and the ideas they left behind.

"I entered college thinking vaguely about becoming a scientist or mathematician, but my ambitions soon changed. At college I had a wonderful series of professors and teachers who revealed to me parts of life that had nothing to do with math or science but were just as exciting. I took history courses, literature courses, language courses, music courses. And I began to read again, something I hadn't done much since elementary school. I began writing essays, stories, and articles, both for my classes and for various campus publications. I met other writers and realized that a person could make a living at this exasperating, exhilarating activity, even if the path ahead was far from clear.

"I never lost my interest in science, and I graduated with a science degree. For most of the twenty-five years since then I've been a freelance writer, specializing in math, science, and science education (I'm married to an education writer). I did have one job during that time. I worked for three years as a writer in the White House Science Office. It was a wonderful experience, but I came to realize that it was a digression for me, and I left the White House resolved to return to freelancing for good.

"My ideas for articles and books tend to ferment for a long time. I've wanted to write about anthropological genetics, which was the subject of Mapping HumanHistory: Discovering the Past through Our Genes, since I read about mitochondrial Eve in the late 1980s. My next book will be a narrative account of the Forty-second International Mathematical Olympiad, which is an annual mathematics competition that I've followed for many years. I'm not sure what I'll do after that, but something will turn up—it always has."