Gregg Olsen

Critical Assessment

His books have appeared on bestseller lists, including The New York Times, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal.

Olsen has also received acclaim for his book writing, including in the true crime genre. 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. It was also 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, a crime novel, 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.

Adaptations

Starvation Heights was adapted for the stage by playwright Ginny Foster, which debuted at the National New Play Festival in July 2008. The title was also optioned for film in 2009 by Pulitzer Prize winner and screenwriter Tracy Letts.^[1]

A Killing in Amish Country was the basis for the 2023 Lifetime film, Amish Stud: The Eli Weaver Story^[2].

Appearances

Olsen was a featured speaker or panelist at the American Bookseller’s Association and the American Library Association conventions in Seattle and Philadelphia.^[3] Internationally, he has appeared as a presenter and panelist at the Hong Kong Literary Festival and the Cheltenham Literary Festival in the United Kingdom.^[4]

Nonfiction

• Abandoned Prayers: An Incredible True Story of Murder, Obsession, and Amish Secrets (1990);
• Bitter Almonds: Mothers, Daughters and the Seattle Cyanide Murders (1993); republished as American Mother (2022);
• Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest (1997);
• The Confessions of an American Black Widow: The Shocking True Story of a Preacher's Wife Turned Killer (1998), republished as American Black Widow (2023);
• If Loving You Is Wrong: The Shocking True Story of Mary Kay Letourneau (1999);
• The Deep Dark: Disaster and Redemption in America’s Richest Silver Mine (2005);
• Mockingbird: A Mother, a Child, a Tragedy (2007); republished as Cruel Deception (2010);
• A Twisted Faith: A Minister’s Obsession and the Murder that Destroyed a Church (2010);
• If I Can’t Have You: Susan Powell, Her Mysterious Disappearance, and the Murder of Her Children (2014);
• A Killing in Amish Country: Sex, Betrayal, and a Cold-Blooded Murder (2016);
• If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood (2019);
• The Amish Wife: Unraveling the Lies, Secrets, and Conspiracy That Let a Killer Go Free (2024);
• Out of the Woods: A Girl, a Killer, and a Lifelong Struggle to Find the Way Home (2025);
• By the River’s Edge: A True Story of Identity and Serial Murder (2026).

Fiction