Ken Nolan

Biography

Ken Nolan is an American screenwriter and novelist best known for his work in the genres of war, historical fiction, and action-adventure.

📝 Early Life and Education

Born in Detroit, Nolan was raised shuttling between divorced parents in Buffalo, New York, and Portland, Oregon. Despite being turned down twice by the UCLA Film School, he pursued his education at the University of Oregon, where he ultimately earned an English degree. In the early 1990s, he moved to Los Angeles to begin his screenwriting career, initially working at Richard Dreyfuss's company. He learned the craft largely by studying scripts and using a popular screenwriting guide as a reference.

🌟 Breakthrough and Notable Works

Nolan had his breakthrough in 1994, although his scripts for Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures did not immediately get produced. His first credited and most famous film is the 2001 biographical war drama, Black Hawk Down.

Black Hawk Down (2001): He wrote the screenplay, which was an adaptation of the non-fiction book of the same name by Mark Bowden. The film was directed by Ridley Scott.

The Company (2007): He received a Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award for Television (Long Form – Adapted) for his work on this TNT miniseries, which was based on a spy novel.

Only the Brave (2017): This drama film, also based on a true story, tells the account of the Granite Mountain Hotshots.

Transformers: The Last Knight (2017): Nolan contributed to this major action film, also penning the script for the as-yet untitled spin-off.

In 2015, Nolan also published his first novel, The Spawn.