Lars-Erik Nelson (October 15, 1941 – November 20, 2000) was an American journalist, political columnist and author best known for his syndicated column in the New York Daily News.

[1] Lars-Erik Nelson was born in Brooklyn, New York, the eldest child of immigrants who met while studying art at Cooper Union.

Shortly after beginning his career at the Daily News, Nelson won an Albert Merriman Smith Memorial Award, named after the longtime reporter for United Press International, for writing under deadline pressure.

His work appeared in The New York Review of Books, The Nation magazine, Mother Jones, Foreign Affairs, among others; and his column ran in newspapers across the country.

"[4][5] Disabled veteran Dominic Antonucci, after reading Nelson's column, suggested that the story bore similarities to a scene in the 1944 film Wing and a Prayer.

"Adding to the confusion," wrote Nelson, "Dana Andrews at one point reprimands a glory‑seeking young pilot with the words: 'This isn’t Hollywood.'

[9] Just a few months before his death, Nelson was a guest on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer and said this about coverage by The New York Times of accused nuclear spy Wen Ho Lee: Investigative reporting can be agenda-driven.

[10] Nelson's reporting on the Wen Ho Lee case resulted in an unprecedented full-page retraction on page A2 of The New York Times.

Mortimer Zuckerman, publisher of The New York Daily News, subsequently announced that the newspaper had established the Lars-Erik Nelson Prize for excellence in reporting and writing, an annual $5,000 award at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.