Olaf Tyaransen is an Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 author and journalist, and is a contributing editor with Dublin's Hot Press

Hot Press

Hot Press is a fortnightly music and political magazine based in Dublin, Ireland founded in 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it had a circulation of 19,215 during 2007...

magazine and the Evening Herald

Evening Herald

The Evening Herald is a mid-market tabloid evening newspaper published in Dublin, Ireland by Independent News & Media. It is published Monday-Saturday, and has three editions — City Edition, City Final Edition and National Edition...

. His journalism has appeared in Rolling Stone, Mojo, Penthouse, the Sunday Independent

Sunday Independent

The Sunday Independent is a broadsheet Sunday newspaper published in Ireland by Independent News and Media plc. The newspaper is edited by Aengus Fanning, and is the biggest selling Irish Sunday newspaper by a large margin ; average circulation of 291,323 between June 2004 and January 2005,...

, and other publications.

Life

Tyaransen was born in Dublin on 10 February 1971, to an Irish mother and English-Norwegian father. The family moved to Galway in 1977, where he attended St. Enda's College on Threadneedle Road. He contributed film reviews to the local free Galway Advertiser in 1988, and edited another local freesheet called The Word. He began writing for Dublin's Hot Press magazine in 1991; to this day he holds the position of their ‘Writer-At-Large’.

From 1994 - 1996, he managed Irish rock act, the Far Canals

Far Canals

The Far Canals were an early 1990s band based in Galway, Ireland consisting of Frank X. Hibbet , Vlad and God the Father . They were managed by Olaf Tyaransen and released two albums and one EP with Hunter S...

. The band released one album If You See K (on Hunter S. Records) before faiding into obscurity. In 2005/2006, Tyaransen lived on the Thai island of Koh Pha Ngan, contributing a Hot Press column called Temporarily Thairish.

Books

Tyaransen's first book, a poetry collection entitled The Consequences of Slaughtering Butterflies, was published by Salmon Poetry in 1992. In 2000, he released The Story Of O (which he described as “an accidental autobiography”).

In October 2001, Tyaransen visited the Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 to report on the phenomenon of internet bridal agencies. The resulting report was published in Sex Lines (2002). The book featured his reports on British spanking parties and the Hungarian porn industry (Tyaransen reported on the making of the Private hardcore film Devil in the Flesh).

He released Palace of Wisdom in 2004, a collection of his Hot Press interviews. Interviewees included Allen Ginsberg

Allen Ginsberg

Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...

, Nick Cave

Nick Cave

Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...

, Will Self

Will Self

William Woodard "Will" Self is an English novelist and short story writer. His fictional style is known for being satirical, grotesque, and fantastical. He is a prolific commentator on contemporary British life, with regular appearances on Newsnight and Question Time...

, William Gibson

William Gibson

William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...

, Dave Gahan, Gerry Adams

Gerry Adams

Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...

, Grace Jones

Grace Jones

Grace Jones is a Jamaican-American singer, model and actress.Jones secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits. In the late 1970s, she adapted the emerging electronic music style and adopted a severe, androgynous look with square-cut hair and...

 and Howard Marks

Howard Marks

Dennis Howard Marks is a Welsh author and former drug smuggler who achieved notoriety as an international cannabis smuggler through high-profile court cases, supposed connections with groups such as the CIA, the IRA, MI6, and the Mafia, and his eventual conviction at the hands of the American Drug...

.

Politics

Tyaransen is an outspoken campaigner for the legalisation of drugs, and regularly writes on this subject and engages in radio, television and university debates. In 1997, Tyaransen formed the Cannabis Legalisation Party with UCC law lecturer Tim Murphy, and stood in the Irish general election

Irish general election, 1997

The Irish general election of 1997 was held on Friday, 6 June 1997. The 166 newly elected members of the 28th Dáil assembled on 26 June 1997 when a new Taoiseach and government were appointed....

 as a candidate for the Dublin constituency of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown

Dún Laoghaire (Dáil Éireann constituency)

Dún Laoghaire is a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas. The constituency elects 4 deputies...

. Although he polled just 348 first preferences, he says his intention was to make a point: "Most drugs aren't prohibited because they're dangerous, they're dangerous because they're prohibited." The Cannabis Legalisation Party has since disbanded and he is not affiliated with any other political party.

Journalism

Tyaransen remains a regular contributor to Hot Press, and has written more than 50 cover stories for the magazine.
For the Evening Herald, he writes the "anti-social diary", "The O-Zone" which appears every Tuesday. On Saturdays, he reviews cult literary classics in his "Booksnake" column.

In 2009, he was shortlisted for Journalist of the Year at the Irish Magazine Awards.
His fifth book Selected Recordings:2000-2010 - an interview collection - will be published by Hot Press Books on 22 November 2010. Interviewees include Johnny Adair, Bono, Courtney Love, Chuck Palahniuk, Larry Flynt and Dolly Parton.