Thomas W. Olson: Biography and Background

Thomas W. Olson is an American children's playwright and lyricist who adapted L. Frank Baum's The Marvelous Land of Oz, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (both of which aired on national television and cable), and Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage presented by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington.

From 1978 to 1990, he was playwright in residence for the Children's Theatre Company (CTC) of Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he also collaborated as an actor in the resident ensemble, stage manager, promotions director, stage director, and literary manager/dramaturg. Most of his plays are literary adaptations, but he also wrote original works, including a piece about The Troubles in Northern Ireland, The Troubles: Children of Belfast (1987). Leaving the staff in 1990 to pursue a freelance career, Olson was literary manager/dramaturg for the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis (1996-98), and managing director for Bloomington Civic Theater (now Artistry) in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Olson has written, directed and performed in "industrial" scripts for organizations, including the American Center for Photography, Business Incentives, Hendlin Visual Communications, Jack Morton Productions, Video Buddy and Minnesota Academic Excellence Foundation.

He wrote eight half-hour radio plays dealing with contemporary urban Native Americans, The Cloud Family Collection, for MIGIZI Communications, with Laura Waterman Wittstock.

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