Lise Olsen

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@liseolsen.bsky.social

281-454-1933

Lise Olsen is a Houston-based investigations editor at the Texas Observer. Lise has investigated many twisted Texas tales, including crooked judges, an unjust execution, massive environmental disasters, myriad cases of corporate and public corruption, and unsolved serial killings. Her reports in three states over 20 years contributed to the prosecutions of a former congressman and a federal judge, inspired laws and reforms, helped solve cold cases, restored names to unidentified murder victims, and freed dozens of wrongfully held prisoners. She is the author of The Scientist and the Serial Killer.

Articles by Lise Olsen

Feb 07, 2024

The Cancer Factory

Too many U.S. workers still suffer and die from exposure to well-known toxic substances, a Texas investigative reporter’s new book says.

A young woman or teen sitting on a couch, head in hands with sadness or despair, as she holds a pregnancy test in one hand.

After Abortion Ban, Texas Teen Birth Rate Rises

The increase reverses a 15-year trend. And unwanted pregnancies will rise, researchers predict.

The Houston skyline, with its numerous recognizable skyscrapers, seen from a greenbelt to the south, under a parly cloudy blue sky.

Texas Counties Try to Fight Poverty with Cash

A program intended to put money in the pockets of the poor faces a challenge from a state senator.

Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, a Latinx woman in a white dress, gives a thumbs up to the camera, showing the ink on her thumb. Photojournalists crowd behind her with their cameras.

Tense Elections in Mexico and U.S. Endanger Democracy

Tense presidential elections could bring upheaval to both nations, according to a recent report.

The March/April issue of the Texas Observer, featuring some of our best work in 2023. The cover depicts a cartoon of young boy dressed as a militia member.

Top 20 Stories From the Year We Nearly Went Under

After roaring back with an issue on women’s health, we exposed heat deaths at Tesla and USPS, went after Angela Paxton, and broke news on queer rights.

by Lise Olsen and Gabriel Arana

A checkerboard of book covers from TXO's roundup of the best books of 2023

The Texas Observer’s 2023 Must-Read Lone Star Books

From poetic dreamworlds to the people’s hospital, Texas authors paint very different portraits of our diverse state.

A composite image: At left, the cover of Unheard Witness shows a grainy photo of Kathy Leissner Whitman smiling, with Charles Whitman, the tower sniper, just out of view with his arm on her shoulder. To the right, a low angle view of the UT Clock Tower with trees in the foreground at the University of Texas at Austin, under a partly cloudy blue sky.

The Tower Sniper’s Wife

A new book from UT Press provides a troubling twist on the vow “until death do us part.”

A composite image: at left, the cover of Pastures of the Empty Page, a book about Larry McMurtry. At right, one building in McMurtry's sprawling used bookstore empire, Booked Up, in Archer City, Texas.

The Lonesome Writing Guru

How author Larry McMurtry—and George Getschow, editor of a new book about McMurtry—helped shepherd a Lone Star literary community.

Ricardo Nuila smiles, wearing a suit jacket and button down.

Ricardo Nuila: The People’s Doctor

The physician and author thinks public hospitals could help save patients trapped in our troubled medical system.

A performer plays music on the church Sanctuary, turned into a makeshift stage. The photo has a church-like atmosphere, with dimmed lights, viewers seated on pews and the altar behind the musicians.

A Sanctuary for Sounds

A well-traveled journalist reveals world music to Austin.