Mark V. Olsen is a U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 TV producer and screenwriter. He is the co-creator and executive producer

Executive producer

An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...

 of the HBO series Big Love

Big Love

Big Love is an American television drama that aired on HBO between March 2006 and March 2011. The show is about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy...

along with writing and life partner Will Scheffer

Will Scheffer

Will Scheffer is an American playwright and co-creator and executive producer of Big Love with longtime life-partner Mark V. Olsen.His writing credits include Big Love: In the Beginning, Ellis Island, Duck Town, Easter , In the Gloaming, The Pact and Citizen Baines.In 1997, Scheffer was honored...

. In 2007, Olsen and Scheffer won a TV Writers Guild of America Award

Writers Guild of America Award

The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...

 for the pilot and first episode of Big Love

Big Love

Big Love is an American television drama that aired on HBO between March 2006 and March 2011. The show is about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy...

.

Overview

Mark V. Olsen grew up in Hastings, Nebraska

Hastings, Nebraska

Hastings is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Nebraska, United States. It is the principal city of the Hastings, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Adams and Clay counties. The population was 24,907 at the 2010 census...

. He is also an attorney

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

, and a member of the New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 bar.

Olsen is openly

Coming out

Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....

 gay

Gay

Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....

; since the early 1990s, he and professional partner Will Scheffer

Will Scheffer

Will Scheffer is an American playwright and co-creator and executive producer of Big Love with longtime life-partner Mark V. Olsen.His writing credits include Big Love: In the Beginning, Ellis Island, Duck Town, Easter , In the Gloaming, The Pact and Citizen Baines.In 1997, Scheffer was honored...

 have also been married to each other.

Prior to Big Love, Olsen and Scheffer wrote an independent film

Independent film

An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...

, Easter (2002). Olsen also wrote a six-part miniseries for HBO known as Mary Chestnut's Civil War.

External links