Jack Olsen (June 7, 1925 – July 16, 2002) was an American journalist and author known for his crime reporting.
His studies of crime are required reading in university criminology courses and have been cited in the New York Times Notable Books of the Year.
They include Last Man Standing: The Tragedy and Triumph of Geronimo Pratt, (Pratt, a leader of the Black Panther Party, was declared innocent and released from prison after serving 25 years on the perjured testimony of a paid FBI informant), and The Bridge at Chappaquiddick examining the 1969 car crash and death that damaged Senator Ted Kennedy's political career.
These include studies of serial rapists such as Kevin Coe (Son: A Psychopath and his Victims) and George Russell, (Charmer), as well as serial killers (The Misbegotten Son about Arthur Shawcross and Hastened to the Grave: The Gypsy Murder Investigation).
Discussing his lifelong interest in crime journalism, Olsen described a field trip that his college criminology class took to a prison: "I'm 19 years old and we get inside, and I see all these guys who look just like me," he said.