Olaf Tyaransen

Olaf Tyaransen (born in Dublin on 10 February 1971) is an Irish journalist and is a contributing editor with Dublin's Hot Press magazine. His journalism has appeared in Rolling Stone, Mojo, Penthouse, the Sunday Independent, and other publications.

Life

Tyaransen was born in Dublin on 10 February 1971,^[1] to an Irish mother and English-Norwegian father. The family moved to Galway in 1977,^[2] 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. 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.^[2] In 2000, he released The Story Of O (which he described as “an accidental autobiography”), which was published by Hot Press magazine and books.^[3]

In October 2001, Tyaransen visited Ukraine to report on the phenomenon of internet bridal agencies. The resulting report was published in Sex Lines (2002), published by Hot Press.^[2] 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, again published by Hot Press.^[2] Interviewees included Allen Ginsberg, Nick Cave, Will Self, William Gibson, Dave Gahan, Gerry Adams, Grace Jones and Howard Marks.

Politics

Tyaransen is an outspoken campaigner for the legalisation of drugs,^[1] 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 as a candidate for the Dublin constituency of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.^[4] 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."^[5] 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,^[1] and has written more than 50 cover stories for the magazine. For the Evening Herald, he wrote the "anti-social diary", "The O-Zone"^[6] which appeared every Tuesday. On Saturdays, he also reviewed cult literary classics in his "Booksnake" column. He ceased writing for the newspaper in 2010.

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 was published in 2010.

Notes