Guy Lawson (born 14 June 1963) is aCanadian American journalist andtrue crime writer who has been published in Harper's,GQ, theNew York Times, andRolling Stone.^[1]

Lawson was born inToronto,Canada to expatriate Australian and Kiwi parents. After his parents divorced, he lived with his mother for a period of time before moving to Saskatchewan to rejoin his father, a journalist and writer, and then to Perth, Western Australia in 1981. He attended theUniversity of Western Australia, before studying law at theUniversity of Cambridge, England.^[2] He briefly worked as an attorney on Wall Street in New York City in the 1990s before transitioning to journalism.^[3][2]

Lawson's first journalism job came as the host of the Canadian literary talk show Imprint in 1993. His first print feature story was in the field of politics, when he was assigned to cover the 1995the Quebec referendum for Harper's magazine. From there, Lawson earned additional accolades and opportunities, starting with a breakthrough stories forHarper's about small-town Canadian hockey players and life in a flophouse on the Bowery in New York City.

Lawson has been published in numerous major publications throughout his career, covering war, sports, crime and many other subjects. In addition, one of his later works,Arms and the Dudes about the life and crimes ofEfraim Diveroli andDavid Packouz, was adapted into the 2016 filmWar Dogs, which starred actorsJonah Hill,Miles Teller,Ana de Armas, andBradley Cooper (who also executive produced the film).^[3][4] In addition toWar Dogs, several of his other works have been optioned, includingOctopus (about hedge fund trader andPonzi scammerSam Israel), byHBO, aGQ article called "The Knife" about LA gangs which was acquired byCBS,^[3] and a New York Times magazine feature on the first expedition to reach the North Pole, titled "Ice Pack" and in development with Sony.

Lawson lives with his wife, Maya Kaimal, anIndian food entrepreneur, whom he married in 2001.^[2][5] They have twin children and live in upstate New York. He is an avowedToronto Maple Leafs fan, remaining loyal to his home province'shockey team despite residing in theUnited States.^[6]

• The Brotherhoods: The True Story of Two Cops Who Murdered for the Mafia (2006)
• Octopus:Sam Israel, the Secret Market, and Wall Street's Wildest Con (2012)
• War Dogs: The True Story of How Three Stoners From Miami Beach Became the Most Unlikely Gunrunners in History (2016), also published under the title Arms and the Dudes.
• Hot Dog Money: Inside the Biggest Scandal in the History of College Sports (2024)

• Guy Lawson atIMDb
• Guy Lawson's official page

• 1963 births
• American male journalists
• American political writers
• The Atlantic (magazine) people
• Living people
• 21st-century American journalists
• Canadian male journalists
• Journalists from Toronto
• The New York Times journalists
• Vanity Fair (magazine) people
• Harper's Magazine people

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata