Gawker (Free subscription) | 05/12/2008
Peter Olson of Random House fixed his reputation in the publishing industry when he displayed a smirking glee at the number of editors he'd fired. (Never let Lynn Hirschberg of the Times follow you...
Gawker (Free subscription) | 05/05/2008
Random House chief Peter Olson will step down in the next few weeks, according to an unsourced report posted to the New York Times website. An unspecified illness had left the publishing exec...
Gawker (Free subscription) | 05/06/2008
Peter Olson—widely reported to be stepping down from Random House after a debilitating bout of pneumonia—doesn't get much sympathy in the publishing industry. Here's how the publishing giant's chief...
Vulture (Free subscription) | 05/06/2008
Photo: Getty Images, Courtesy of NBC The Times reports today that longtime Random House CEO Peter Olson may be on the way out , dismissed by anxious Bertelsmann executives worried about Random's declining profits. As the Times points out, Olson looks to be the victim of "the same bottom-line calculus" that led him to fire Ann Godoff back in 2003 — and new Bertelsmann head Hartmut...
MediaBistro.com (Free subscription) | 05/05/2008
According to Bertelsmann insiders in Germany, whispering in the NY Times 's ear , Random House CEO Peter Olson is expected to resign "in the next few weeks," because "lower profits at Random House and steep losses in its American book clubs" have hurt the bottom line at the parent company, and the leadership "has lost patience." PW Daily says similar rumors were floating around London...
The New York Observer Daily Transom (Free subscription) | 05/06/2008
The publishing industry was vocally unsurprised on Monday when The New York Times ’ Mark Landler reported that Peter Olson, the towering and strange CEO of Random House, had fallen out of favor with leadership at Bertelsmann, the German conglomerate, and would soon be relieved of his duties after 10 years at the helm. “I heard this ages ago!” was the note most tried to sound. Big deal!...
Gawker (Free subscription) | 05/06/2008
Despite his illness, it sounds like there was some schadenfreude surrounding the departure of Peter Olson: "Olson may be best remembered in the publishing industry for abruptly dismissing the...
The Politicker (Free subscription) | 05/05/2008
The New York Times is reporting that Peter Olson, who has been C.E.O. of Random House since 1998, will step down "in the next few weeks." Two unnamed executives from Random House's parent company Bertelsmann tell the Times ' Mark Landler that pressure on Mr. Olson to vacate his post is coming from Bertelsmann's recently-appointed chief executive Hartmut Ostrowski, who "has lost...
FT.com (Free subscription) | 05/07/2008
When Bertelsmann surprised the publishing world a decade ago with its acquisition of Random House of the US, Peter Olson, then head of the German media group's US...
Gawker (Free subscription) | 05/06/2008
Despite his illness, it sounds like there was some schadenfreude: "Olson may be best remembered in the publishing industry for abruptly dismissing the president of the Random House Trade Group, Ann...
The Huffington Post (Free subscription) | 05/05/2008
Peter W. Olson, the chief executive of Random House and one of the most powerful figures in American book publishing, will step down in the...
Chuck Newton (Free subscription) | 04/29/2008
Well, maybe not the same road to political enlightenment, but the one of lessons learned in the private practice of law. We practice. We learn. We try to express ourselves to others so that they might find the trip a little easier than we did. Peter Olson of Solo In Chicago posted about the two things he wish he knew or understood when he started his practice. The first, is that you need...
Easy Bake Coven (Free subscription) | 04/10/2008
... The Captain’s Bookshelf and Western Carolina University present a striking new film about Charles Olson, poet and charismatic leader of Black Mountain College during its final years, at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 17th. Polis is This: Charles Olson and the Persistence of Place wrestles with the six foot eight inch 275lb colossus of poetry through an extraordinary mix of word and...
Examiner (Free subscription) | 03/24/2008
Peter Olson went from years working in finance and racing as a hobby to becoming a professional race car driver. The Chevy Chase native has raced in Hong Kong, California, Taiwan and mainland China. Last year, he won the Bridgestone Formula 2000 race series against 35 drivers from around the world. Now he's based in Toronto, where he races Formula 2000 cars for Bridgestone and is a full-time...
the Literary Saloon (Free subscription) | 05/12/2008
In writing about the (apparently soon to come) ouster of Random House head Peter Olson Marion Maneker suggests: If you want to understand book publishing, you need to think less Bloomsbury and more Gambino.
