Pål Gerhard Olsen (born 1 November 1959) is a Norwegian novelist, children's writer,

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

writer, playwright and

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

Career

Olsen was born in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

. He made his literary debut in 1985, with ''Svart, svart – og et tynt lag hvitt'', on disillusioned and

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden c ...

-consuming youngsters. Further novels are ''Libero. Loven vest for Geilo'' (1986), about two football-loving young boys, ''Den eneste andre'' (1989), where the protagonists are two vagants, and the sequel ''Blodets sang'' from 1991. The 1994 novel ''Den sanne historien'' combines social and psychological aspects of the 1990s. The novel ''Manndomsprøven'' (1997) is about a maturing young boy, while ''Fredstid'' (2000) is a love story set in the late 1930s. In the crime fiction novel ''Mørk april'' from 1987, Olsen introduced

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

"Aron Ask", a former

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

journalist, who eventually appeared in a number of novels, including the sequels ''Overspill'' (1990), ''Rødt regn'' (1992) and ''Isdronningen'' (1995), as well as in ''Oslo-piken'' (1998), ''Tusenårsriket'' (2002), ''Nattmusikk'' (2005) and ''Bakmennene'' (2009). His children's novels include ''Tigrene tar avspark'' from 1996, and ''Tigrene finner formen'' from 1997. Olsen is a literary critic of crime fiction for the newspaper ''

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...

''.

References

1959 births Living people Writers from Bergen Norwegian novelists Norwegian crime fiction writers {{Norway-writer-stub