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Lise Olsen

Lise Olsen

Lise Olsen is a senior reporter & editor at the Texas Observer magazine and previously worked as deputy investigations editor at The Houston Chronicle.  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 over 20 years in three states have 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. Her work is featured in two documentaries, CNN’s “The Wrong Man” (2015) about the innocence claims of executed offender Ruben Cantu and the six-part A & E series on the victims of a 1970s serial killer, “The Eleven,” (2017). She has three times been named Star Reporter of the Year by the Texas APME. In 2019, she was part of the investigative team that broke the story of how hundreds of Southern Baptists with formal church roles—pastors, deacons, youth pastors—had engaged in sexual misconduct, leaving behind more than 700 victims. A former staff and board member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Lise speaks Spanish and French, has lived in Mexico and France and has taught workshops throughout the Americas. Her email is olsen@texasobserver.org and Twitter handle is @lisedigger.