In late 2002, after several years working in the brain numbing world of straight to video thrillers, Josh Olson sold the original script THREE GUN BLUES to Paramount, with producer Gale Ann Hurd attached. That led directly to his first studio assignment, writing the screenplay for A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE. Loosely based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke, Olson’s script was cited by Amy Taubin who wrote in Film Comment that “it should replace Chinatown as a model screenplay.” The film of his script, starring Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris and William Hurt, and directed by David Cronenberg, received near-unanimous rave reviews worldwide, and garnered Olson the Hollywood Legacy Writer Of The Year award, a WGA nomination, an Edgar nomination, a BAFTA nomination, and an Academy Award nomination.

Last year, Olson wrote ANGELS AND OUTLAWS, a western starring Willie Nelson for producer Steven Bing and director Simon Wincer. His current projects include the dark thriller MONSTER, based on the hugely popular Japanese manga, for Trilogy Entertainment.

Olson’s next project will be directing his own adaptation of UNTIL GWEN, a brilliant short story by Dennis Lehane (MYSTIC RIVER).