Oliver August
Encyclopedia
Oliver August is a correspondent and editor for The Economist
. He is currently focusing on Africa and the Middle East. Previously, he has been based in New York, Beijing, Singapore, Damascus, Beirut and Baghdad.
August started his career as a correspondent for The Times
of London. He covered financial markets in America, Europe and Asia, and worked as a war correspondent in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq. His writing on Germany won him the Anglo-German Foundation Journalism Prize in 1998.
August's first book, Along the Wall and Watchtowers (HarperCollins, 1999), chronicles a journey along the former Iron Curtain
and examines the political, economic and social consequences of German reunification. His second book, Inside the Red Mansion (Houghton Mifflin & John Murray, 2007) describes the epic search for Lai Changxing
, China's most wanted man, and details the emergence of an entrepreneurial class in post-Communist China. The book was translated into eleven languages.
August was born in Bremerhaven
and grew up in northern Germany
. His father was a theatre director and his mother an architect. He has a Bachelors degree in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University and a Masters degree in international relations from City University, London
.
August has appeared on the BBC
, NPR
, CNN
and CNBC
. He has contributed opinion articles to the L.A. Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post.
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
. He is currently focusing on Africa and the Middle East. Previously, he has been based in New York, Beijing, Singapore, Damascus, Beirut and Baghdad.
August started his career as a correspondent for The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
of London. He covered financial markets in America, Europe and Asia, and worked as a war correspondent in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq. His writing on Germany won him the Anglo-German Foundation Journalism Prize in 1998.
August's first book, Along the Wall and Watchtowers (HarperCollins, 1999), chronicles a journey along the former Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
and examines the political, economic and social consequences of German reunification. His second book, Inside the Red Mansion (Houghton Mifflin & John Murray, 2007) describes the epic search for Lai Changxing
Lai Changxing
Lai Changxing began as a Chinese businessman and entrepreneur from Jinjiang, Fujian, People's Republic of China. He was the founder and Chairman of the lucrative Yuanhua Group in the Special Economic Zone of Xiamen. At his height he has been credited with converting China from communism to...
, China's most wanted man, and details the emergence of an entrepreneurial class in post-Communist China. The book was translated into eleven languages.
August was born in Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
and grew up in northern Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. His father was a theatre director and his mother an architect. He has a Bachelors degree in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University and a Masters degree in international relations from City University, London
City University, London
City University London , is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute and became a university in 1966, when it adopted its present name....
.
August has appeared on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
and CNBC
CNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
. He has contributed opinion articles to the L.A. Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post.
Books
- Along the Wall and Watchtowers, HarperCollinsHarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
, 1999 - Inside the Red Mansion, Houghton MifflinHoughton MifflinHoughton Mifflin Harcourt is an educational and trade publisher in the United States. Headquartered in Boston's Back Bay, it publishes textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults.-History:The company was...
, 2007