
About

Debra Ollivier is a literary miracle worker and consummate professional who takes her work and craft into an intimate, creative and trusting realm. She's got the chops, the passion, the wisdom, and the empathy to weave tapestries of humanity. - Matthew Zachary, Producer/Host of Out of Patients with Matthew Zachary, founder of Stupid Cancer and CEO of OffScrip Health
Debra is the author of the national bestseller What French Women Know (Penguin) and Entre Nous (St. Martin's Press). She has been instrumental in ghostwriting, book doctoring, and editing over twenty titles, working collaboratively with authors on a broad and eclectic mix of subjects. Her editorial chops were honed as an Acquisitions Editor for Parallax Press (an independent publisher founded by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh), a Contributing Editor for Salon Magazine, and a Managing Editor for The Huffington Post, where she launched a vertical in tandem with actress/producer Rita Wilson. Her work is featured in the bestselling anthologies Mothers Who Think (Villard) and Because I Said So (Harper Perennial), as well as in Harper's Magazine, Playboy, The New York Times, Parents Magazine, Les Inrockuptibles, Le Monde and other media.
Over the years Debra has had the good fortune of assisting in making several big ideas happen, including the launch of the first TED conference with Richard Wurman and the Social Venture Network. She offers a range of editorial services for authors, writers, and other makers and mavericks.
Expanded Bio
Debra was raised in Los Angeles by New Yorkers who headed west to seek their bliss and stopped in California when there was no more west left. Both parents were big in the human potential movement and happily partook in the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. Debra longed for a vanilla family but grew up with a Ben & Jerry’s experiment.
An obsessive journaler and book nerd at a young age, Debra graduated from UCLA and the Sorbonne with a degree in French literature. She worked as a freelance writer in France, where she became a dual citizen, had two kids, and wrote about French culture and the glorious vexations of parenting for over a decade.
She currently lives in Los Angeles.