Thomas W. Olson

Thomas W. Olson is an American playwright and lyricist known for his adaptations of L. Frank Baum's The Marvelous Land of Oz, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (both of which aired on television), and Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage.

From 1978-1990, he was playwright in residence for the Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis, where he has also been an actor, stage manager, promotions director, stage director, and literary manager. Most of his plays are literary adaptations, but he also wrote an original work about The Troubles, The Troubles: Children of Belfast (1987), with music by jazz trumpeter Alan Shorter.