Order of Book Series
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Jack Olsen Books in Order

37 books are credited to Jack Olsen, published between 1961 and 2015; 3 of them appeared after Jack Olsen's death in 2002. The first book is Over The Fence Is Out (1961) and the newest is The Last Coyote (2015). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
37
Published
1961–2015
Pages on record
1,973 in 6 of 37 books
See all 37 books in order Printable Jack Olsen checklist

Jack Olsen was an American journalist who built a second career in book-length crime reporting. Olsen was editor-in-chief at the Chicago Sun-Times in 1954, then Midwest bureau chief for Time and a senior editor at Sports Illustrated by 1961, and wrote for Fortune and Vanity Fair. The 37 catalogued books start with Over The Fence Is Out (1961) and take in sport, bridge and wildlife, among them Bridge Is My Game, The Black Athlete and Night of the Grizzlies, alongside serial murderers, false imprisonment and FBI cases in the listed subjects. Olsen lived from 1925 to 2002.

How many Jack Olsen books are there?

Jack Olsen has 37 books, released between 1961 and 2015. 3 of them were published after Jack Olsen's death in 2002.

Jack Olsen Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 37 Jack Olsen books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Slaughter the Animals, Poison the Earth by Jack Olsen (1971)
  2. Cover of The Secret of Fire 5 by Jack Olsen (1977)
  3. Cover of Last Man Standing by Jack Olsen (2000)
  4. Cover of Silence on Monte Sole by Jack Olsen (2002)
  5. Cover of I: The Creation of a Serial Killer by Jack Olsen (2002)
  6. Cover of The Happy Face Killer by Jack Olsen (2008)
  1. 1
    Over The Fence Is Out1961 · confirmed 1/4
    1961–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Mad World of Bridge1962 · confirmed 1/4
    1962–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Climb Up to Hell1962 · confirmed 1/4
    1962–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Bridge Is My Game1965 · confirmed 1/4
    1965–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Black is Best1967 · confirmed 1/4
    1967–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Black Athlete1968 · confirmed 1/4
    1968–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Cassius Clay1968 · 158 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1968158
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Night of the Grizzlies1969 · confirmed 1/4
    1969–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Better Scramble Than Lose1969 · confirmed 1/4
    1969–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    The Bridge at Chappaquiddack1970 · confirmed 1/4
    1970–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Aphrodite: Desperate Mission1970 · confirmed 1/4
    1970–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Slaughter the Animals, Poison the Earth1971 · 287 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1971287
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Girls in the Office1972 · confirmed 1/4
    1972–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Alphabet Jackson1974 · confirmed 1/4
    1974–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Girls on Campus1974 · confirmed 1/4
    1974–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    The Man With The Candy1974 · confirmed 1/4
    1974–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Sweet Street1974 · confirmed 1/4
    1974–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    Massy's Game1976 · confirmed 1/4
    1976–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    The Secret of Fire 51977 · 279 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1977279
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Night Watch1979 · confirmed 1/4
    1979–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    Missing Persons1981 · confirmed 1/4
    1981–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    Have You Seen My Son?1982 · confirmed 1/4
    1982–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    Son1983 · confirmed 1/4
    1983–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    Give a Boy a Gun1985 · confirmed 1/4
    1985–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    Cold Kill1987 · confirmed 1/4
    1987–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    Doc1989 · confirmed 1/4
    1989–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    Predator1991 · confirmed 1/4
    1991–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    The Misbegotten Son1993 · confirmed 1/4
    1993–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 29
    Charmer1994 · confirmed 1/4
    1994–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  30. 30
    Salt of the Earth1996 · confirmed 1/4
    1996–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  31. 31
    Hastened to the Grave1998 · confirmed 1/4
    1998–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  32. 32
    Last Man Standing2000 · 500 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2000500
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  33. 33
    Silence on Monte Sole2002 · 384 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2002384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  34. 34
    I: The Creation of a Serial Killer2002 · 365 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2002365
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  35. 35
    The Happy Face Killer2008 · confirmed 1/4
    2008–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  36. 36
    The Pitcher's Kid2011 · confirmed 1/4
    2011–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  37. 37
    The Last Coyote2015 · confirmed 1/4
    2015–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Jack Olsen books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Standalone books

37 books

37 Jack Olsen titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Jack Olsen books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 37 Jack Olsen books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with Jack Olsen

Start with Over The Fence Is Out (1961), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Jack Olsen book?

The Last Coyote (2015) is the newest Jack Olsen book released so far.

Is there a new Jack Olsen book coming?

No next Jack Olsen book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Jack Olsen at a glance

Died
Jack Olsen died in 2002, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to Jack Olsen are still being published after Jack Olsen's death in 2002; the newest appeared in 2015.
Release pace
Jack Olsen books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
1,973 pages across the 6 of 37 books with a recorded length, a median of 326 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Jack Olsen books, 11 of 37, were published in the 1970s.

What the Jack Olsen books are about

6 of the 37 Jack Olsen books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: serial murders is tagged on 2 of 6. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.