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Josh Olson

American screenwriter

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Joshua R. Olson is an American screenwriter and podcaster, known for writing the 2005 film A History of Violence.

01Career

Olson wrote and directed the low budget horror film Infested in 2002. He wrote the screenplay for the 2005 film A History of Violence.. He was nominated for the British Academy Award, the Writer's Guild Award and the Academy Award. In 2006, Olson collaborated with Harlan Ellison on an adaptation of the author's short story "The Discarded" for ABC's series Masters of Science Fiction. He worked on Peter Jackson's film based on the Halo video game series, but the project was later cancelled.

Olson wrote the first draft of the movie Jack Reacher, for Paramount Pictures. Ultimately, the movie was written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie.

Olson wrote two seasons of the audio drama, Bronzeville, which is produced by and stars Laurence Fishburne and Larenz Tate. He is one of the hosts of the film interview podcast, "The Movies That Made Me", along with director Joe Dante.

Olson co-hosts with Dave Anthony The West Wing Thing, a podcast rewatching and discussing episodes of The West Wing and its impact on politics. In 2020, Olson started Rainy Day Podcasts with Mick Jagger, Steve Bing, and Victoria Pearman. The company has a "first look deal" with Warner Brothers, and will produce original narrative podcasts.

02Filmography

Year Title Notes
1998 On the Border Screenplay; television film
1999 Hitman's Run Screenplay (uncredited)
2001 Instinct to Kill Screenplay; television film
2002 Infested Also director
2005 A History of Violence Screenplay
2007 The Discarded Episode of Masters of Science Fiction
2008 Batman: Gotham Knight Anthology film segment: Have I Got a Story for You
2024 Trigger Warning Screenplay
Watch videos about Josh OlsonExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Josh Olson, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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