Larry J. Kolb
Encyclopedia
Larry J. Kolb is the author of two memoirs of his life as an intelligence officer and world-traveling businessman.
Prior to his career as an author, Kolb, by his own account, worked as a close advisor to Muhammad Ali
and Adnan Khashoggi
and as a spy with CIA co-founder Miles Copeland, Jr.
, with whom he was involved in intrigues in Pakistan
, Iran
, the Philippines
, Nicaragua
, and elsewhere, until Kolb was forced to retire to a safehouse in Florida
to avoid extradition to India
.
As Kolb recounts in Overworld, his father was a highly-placed US intelligence official, and Kolb grew up in various places around the world, following his father's assignments. Kolb resisted various efforts at recruitment by official intelligence agencies until he was recruited by Copeland.
Upon the publication of Overworld, Kolb was again recruited, this time by the Department of Homeland Security, to help investigate two white collar criminals with connections to the CIA. Kolb's investigation of Robert Sensi and Richard Hirschfeld led him to discover and foil a conspiracy to smear the John Kerry
2004 presidential campaign with false links to Al Qaeda. This became the subject of his 2007 book America at Night, which was reviewed by the New York Times on January 25, 2007.
Kolb, who was born in Virginia
, currently lives in Florida
.
Prior to his career as an author, Kolb, by his own account, worked as a close advisor to Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
and Adnan Khashoggi
Adnan Khashoggi
Adnan Khashoggi is a Saudi Arabian arms-dealer and businessman. He is also noted for his engagements with high society in both the Occident and Arabic-speaking worlds, and for his involvement in the Iran–Contra and Lockheed bribery scandals, and numerous other affairs...
and as a spy with CIA co-founder Miles Copeland, Jr.
Miles Copeland, Jr.
Miles Axe Copeland, Jr. was an American musician, businessman, and CIA officer who was closely involved in major foreign-policy operations from the 1950s to the 1980s...
, with whom he was involved in intrigues in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, and elsewhere, until Kolb was forced to retire to a safehouse in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
to avoid extradition to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
As Kolb recounts in Overworld, his father was a highly-placed US intelligence official, and Kolb grew up in various places around the world, following his father's assignments. Kolb resisted various efforts at recruitment by official intelligence agencies until he was recruited by Copeland.
Upon the publication of Overworld, Kolb was again recruited, this time by the Department of Homeland Security, to help investigate two white collar criminals with connections to the CIA. Kolb's investigation of Robert Sensi and Richard Hirschfeld led him to discover and foil a conspiracy to smear the John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
2004 presidential campaign with false links to Al Qaeda. This became the subject of his 2007 book America at Night, which was reviewed by the New York Times on January 25, 2007.
Kolb, who was born in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, currently lives in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
External links
- Larry J. Kolb's website - includes extensive documentation and photographs of the stories recounted in Kolb's books