Pamela Olson

Pamela Olson grew up in small town Oklahoma and studied physics and political science at Stanford University. After graduating, she realized to her surprise that she didn't want to be a scientist after all and instead began bartending, saved money to travel, and landed unexpectedly in Palestine, where she became a journalist and foreign press coordinator for a Palestinian presidential candidate. Her website is pamolson.org. After returning to the US, she worked at a think tank in Washington, DC, trying to bring what she had learned to the halls of power. Eventually she became disillusioned, dropped out of the Beltway crowd, and began writing a book called Fast Times in Palestine, a chronicle of her searing education in the Holy Land and the incredible adventures she had along the way. It was published by Seal Press in March 2013. She's currently working on a sequel called Palestine, DC, about the "special relationship" between the US and Israel, the rift between Hamas and Fatah, the assault on Lebanon in 2006, the situation in Gaza, and several other topics for folks who read Fast Times and wish to dig a little deeper. Her writing has also been featured in the International Herald Tribune, CounterPunch, Israel's Occupation Magazine, Mondoweiss, and The Stanford Magazine among other publications.