Michael Olesker (born 1945) is a former syndicated columnist for ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

'' newspaper in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, and a book author. Olesker attended the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

where he was on the staff of the school newspaper, ''

The Diamondback ''The Diamondback'' is an independent student newspaper associated with the University of Maryland, College Park. It began in 1910 as ''The Triangle'' and became known as ''The Diamondback'' in 1921. Now a weekly online journal, ''The Diamondback ...

'', serving as the sports page editor. Olesker started writing for the ''

Baltimore News-American The ''Baltimore News-American'' was a broadsheet newspaper published in downtown Baltimore, Maryland until May 27, 1986. It had a continuous lineage (in various forms) of more than 200 years. For much of the mid-20th century, it had the largest ...

'' in 1978, prior to becoming a ''Baltimore Sun'' writer between 1979–2006. He was also a commentator on

WJZ-TV WJZ-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, and maintains studios and offices on Televi ...

from 1983 through December 2002, and his columns were syndicated in other newspapers such as ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'' and the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

''. Olesker resigned from the ''Sun'' on January 4, 2006, after it was alleged that his columns contained passages

plagiarized Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

from articles at other newspapers.Baltimore Sun Columnist Quits Amid Plagiarism Charges
FoxNews.com January 4, 2006.Court Favors Ehrlich on ban
''The Baltimore Sun'', February 16, 2006 After leaving ''The Baltimore Sun'', Olesker was a columnist for the ''

Baltimore Examiner ''The Baltimore Examiner'' was a free daily newspaper in Baltimore, Maryland, launched in 2006, ceased publication in 2009. History ''The Baltimore Examiner'' was launched in 2006 by the Philip Anschutz-owned Clarity Media Group as part of a nat ...

'' until that newspaper ceased publication in 2009. Olesker is known for his liberal viewpoints and for his criticism of the administration of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Governor

Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Robert Leroy Ehrlich Jr. (born November 25, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 60th Governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007. A Republican, Ehrlich represented Maryland's 2nd Congressional district in the U.S. House o ...

(R), whose press office in November 2004 issued an executive order banning state executive employees from talking with Olesker. The ''Sun'' unsuccessfully sued over the ban, in a case decided by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Maryland

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Michael Steele Michael Stephen Steele (born October 19, 1958) is an American political commentator, attorney, and Republican Party politician. Steele served as the seventh lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007; he was the first African-American ...

also accused Olesker of making up quotes. Olesker is the author of ''Journeys to the Heart of Baltimore'' (

Johns Hopkins University Press The Johns Hopkins University Press (also referred to as JHU Press or JHUP) is the publishing division of Johns Hopkins University. It was founded in 1878 and is the oldest continuously running university press in the United States. The press publi ...

, 2001, ) and co-authored ''

Leap into Darkness ''Leap into Darkness'' is a 1998 memoir by Holocaust survivor Leo Bretholz and co-author Michael Olesker, in the vein of ''Night'' by Elie Wiesel or ''My Brother's Voice'' (2003) by Stephen Nasser, in which he recounts the astounding story of hi ...

'', a 1998 memoir of a

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

survivor. His other books include: ::* ''The Colts' Baltimore: A City and Its Love Affair in the 1950s'' () ::* ''Front Stoops in the Fifties: Baltimore Legends Come of Age'' () ::* ''Baltimore: If You Live Here, You’re Home'' He was an extra in the 5th season of

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime film, crime drama Television show, television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olesker, Michael American columnists The Baltimore Sun people Living people 1945 births Baltimore City College alumni