John Silvester (writer)

John Silvester is an Australian journalist and crime writer. He has written for major Melbourne based newspapers such as The Age, the Sunday Herald Sun and others. Silvester has also co-written a number of bestselling books with Andrew Rule, based on crime in Melbourne. Some of their works formed the basis of the hit Australian TV series Underbelly.^[1] He also appears weekly on 3AW's breakfast program as "Sly of the Underworld".

Silvester received a Bachelor of Arts in politics and law at La Trobe University in 1978, according to an article in the university's Alumni newsletter, Agora, which also stated that his father, Fred, was a former Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner, and head of the Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence.

According to his profile at The Age:

"John Silvester has been a crime reporter in Melbourne since 1979, moving to The Age in 1993. He has worked with The Sunday Times insight team in London, won an ASEAN-AJA scholarship to study crime and corruption in South East Asia and has given evidence at Royal Commissions on police corruption. Silvester has published more than 20 crime books. He has won a Walkley award, three Quills, a Ned Kelly award for true crime writing and three Victorian Law awards. He appears regularly on radio station 3aw to discuss crime matters."

John Silvester was nominated state finalist for a Walkley Award in 1988, 1996 and a national finalist in 2003, finally winning in the category Best use of the medium in 2004. He was again nominated in 2011 in the Commentary, Analysis, Opinion and Critique section.^[2]

John Silvester is also a passionate supporter of the Hawthorn Football Club.

Bibliography

• Underbelly 1 : true crime stories ISBN 0-646-33924-9 (1997)
• Underbelly 2 : more true crime stories, John Silvester & Andrew Rule ISBN 0-9586071-1-7 (1998)
• Underbelly 3 : some more true crime stories, John Silvester & Andrew Rule ISBN 0-9586071-3-3 (1999)
• Underbelly 4 : true crime stories, John Silvester & Andrew Rule ISBN 0-9586071-6-8 (2000)
• Underbelly 5 : more true crime stories, John Silvester and Andrew Rule ISBN 0-9586071-8-4 (2001)
• Underbelly 6 : more true crime stories, John Silvester and Andrew Rule ISBN 0-9579121-3-7 (2002)
• Underbelly 7 : more true crime stories, John Silvester and Andrew Rule ISBN 0-9579121-6-1 (2003)
• Underbelly 8 : more true crime stories, John Silvester and Andrew Rule ISBN 0-9752318-2-0 (2004)
• Tough: 101 Australian gangsters : a crime companion, by John Silvester & Andrew Rule ISBN 0-9579121-2-9 (2002)
• Leadbelly: inside Australia's underworld wars, by John Silvester & Andrew Rule ISBN 0-9752318-0-4 (2004)
• Underbelly 9 : more true crime stories, John Silvester and Andrew Rule ISBN 0-9752318-7-1 (2005)
• Gotcha : how Australia's baddest crooks copped their right whack, John Silvester and Andrew Rule ISBN 0-9752318-5-5 (2005)
• Underbelly 10 : more true crime stories, John Silvester and Andrew Rule ISBN 0-9775440-3-6 (2006)
• Rats : crooks who got away with it : tails of true crime and mystery from the Underbelly archives, John Silvester and Andrew Rule ISBN 0-9775440-0-1 (2006)
• Underbelly 11 : more true crime stories, John Silvester and Andrew Rule ISBN 0-9775440-5-2 (2007)
• Underbelly : The Gangland War, John Silvester and Andrew Rule ISBN 978-0-9775440-6-6 (2008)
• Underbelly : A Tale of Two Cities, John Silvester and Andrew Rule ISBN 978-0-9775440-9-7 (2009)
• Underbelly : The Golden Casket, John Silvester and Andrew Rule ISBN 978-0-9807170-3-7 (2010)

References

External links

• Speaker Profile