Mark Olshaker

Mark Olshaker is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, New York Times best-selling non-fiction author, and critically acclaimed novelist. In his extensive career spanning law enforcement, criminal justice, public health, and bio-defense, Olshaker has collaborated with many of the nation’s leading experts in these fields. He is recognized for his ability to distill complex scientific, medical, and legal issues into accessible narratives for the general public.

His books coauthored with John Douglas, beginning with "Mindhunter," have sold millions of copies, been translated into numerous languages, and established him as a sought-after speaker and consultant on criminal justice and victims' rights. Olshaker and Douglas also cowrote the lead chapter for the textbook "Forensic Emergency Medicine," published by Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, and revised for a second edition. Their joint works include "Law & Disorder," addressing failures in the criminal justice system, and the PBS "NOVA" documentary "Who Killed Lindbergh’s Baby?"

As a novelist, Olshaker is known for "Einstein’s Brain," "Unnatural Causes," "Blood Race," "The Edge," and "Broken Wings." Olshaker has also delved into medical mysteries, drawing on his research with the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). His novel "Unnatural Causes" and nonfiction book "Virus Hunter" (coauthored with Dr. C.J. Peters) explore public health crises and bioterror threats. "Virus Hunter" was highlighted by the New York Times and praised by the New England Journal of Medicine as a modern counterpart to Paul de Kruif’s "Microbe Hunters."

As a filmmaker, Olshaker’s Emmy-nominated PBS documentary "Mind of a Serial Killer" for "NOVA" and other productions have tackled subjects ranging from architecture to drama. His film "Discovering Hamlet," featuring Sir Derek Jacobi and Sir Kenneth Branagh, offered a behind-the-scenes look at one of literature’s greatest murder mysteries.

Olshaker has served as a consultant for the U.S. Justice Department Office for Victims of Crime and the National Library of Medicine. A former journalist with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, he has written for the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Newsday, and other publications. His expertise in public health and criminal justice extends to his work on documentaries such as "What’s Killing the Children?" and "Anatomy of a Pandemic."