Carl Olson is the editor of Ignatius Insight, an online magazine that provides readers with essays, interviews, reviews and news related to the Catholic Church and the work of Ignatius Press, one of the world’s largest Catholic publishers. He is also the moderator of the Insight Scoop, the Ignatius Press weblog.

Olson grew up in a Fundamentalist Protestant home in western Montana. After two years of art school, he attended Briercrest Bible College, an Evangelical Bible college in Saskatchewan, Canada, graduating with an associate’s degree in 1991. His wife, Heather, is a graduate of Multnomah Bible College in Portland, Oregon. They married in 1994 and entered the Catholic Church together in 1997; their conversion story appears in the book, Surprised By Truth 3.

In May 2000, Olson graduated from the University of Dallas with a Masters in Theological Studies. For two years he worked as the director of catechesis and evangelization for Nativity of the Mother of God, a Byzantine Catholic parish in Springfield, Oregon. Then, from 2002 to 2004, he was the editor of the award-winning Envoy magazine.

Long interested in Evangelical and Fundamentalist beliefs about the end of the world, Olson has written over two dozen articles about Bible prophecy, the belief in the “Rapture,” and Left Behind books. His first book, Will Catholics Be “Left Behind” A Catholic Critique of the Rapture and Today’s Prophecy Preachers (Ignatius Press, 2003) was the result of years of research on the topic; it was recognized by the Associated Press as one of the best religious titles of 2003.

Carl Olson is also the co-author, with medievalist Sandra Miesel, of The Da Vinci Hoax: Exposing the Errors in The Da Vinci Code (Ignatius, 2004; see www.davincihoax.com). Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago, wrote the foreword and described the book as “the definitive debunking” of the best-selling The Da Vinci Code. In addition, historian Dr. James Hitchcock called it “superb and meticulous,” World editor Marvin Olasky described it as a “clearly-written antidote,” and Professor Philip Jenkins of Pennsylvania State University said it “is a delight to read.”

He has also written articles for Crisis, The Catholic Faith, Catholic Parent, National Catholic Register, Envoy, This Rock, First Things, Gilbert!, Touchstone, Canticle, Saint Austin Review, New Covenant, The Catalyst, Lay Witness, National Review Online, CatholicExchange.com, and Catholic.org. He is a contributing editor to This Rock magazine and writes the weekly “Opening the Word” Scripture column for Our Sunday Visitor. Olson also wrote the introduction to [b:Pied Piper of Atheism: Philip Pullman and Children’s Fantasy|2310638|Pied Piper of Atheism Phili