Patricia R. Olsen

My specialties are business and health, but I've written about everything from cellphone towers encroaching on residential neighborhoods for AARP, to a female deputy assistant prosecutor who tries murderers, to case studies of HP products that data analysts use. I'm also a skilled proofreader and copyeditor, and I ghostwrite for executives. I have a technical background as well (Cisco, AT&T and Lucent) and I also contract with pharmaceutical agencies for writing projects.

In addition, I'm a longtime contributor to The New York Times (20+ years). Most recently I'wrote the Workspace column, a photo essay about people's interesting offices in Sunday Business, and I was the lead writer of the Vocations column, about people's interesting jobs. 

A few of the memorable people I interviewed include Joan Rivers, Charles Schwab, and Evan Williams (the former Twitter CEO). Search on my byline at www.nytimes.com (Patricia R. Olsen) to see hundreds of my articles in more than 10 different columns.

I also write for corporations and custom publications, taking care not to blur the line between journalism and corporate writing. One project, for the foundation of a major telecommunications company, was to report on how their technology is benefiting underserved students and community health centers in and around Boston and New York City.

Here’s what one reader said:

I am writing to tell you how much your writing style - at least in The Boss column - reminds me of reading Studs Terkel's Working. I devoured Working when I first encountered it and thus have a pleasant connection whenever I read one of your features on Sunday.

Publication Credits

Hemispheres (United's magazine), Harvard Business Review, Diabetic Living, AARP, Diversity Woman, the Alzheimer’s Foundation magazine, Remedy, PROTO (published by Massachusetts General), USA Weekend, ForbesLife Executive Woman, Business Traveler, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle magazine, Family Circle, and MORE. I've contributed to numerous alumni magazines as well.

Columns

For almost ten years, I've written the executive column in Family Business magazine, and I write the executive column for a construction software website. I wrote the executive column in On Wall Street magazine for years, and I've also written a monthly small business column for a custom publisher as well. 


Business/Corporate Writing

My specialties include:
• feature articles 
• newsletter articles
• white papers
• policies and procedures
• As Told To's
• opeds

• profiles and Q&As

I published Sober Siblings: How to Help Your Alcoholic Brother or Sister -- And Not Lose Yourself (DaCapo Lifelong), with Dr. Petros Levounis, M.D., which is available on Amazon. I'm available for co-authoring or ghostwriting other people's book proposals and books as well.