Olivia Fitzsimons is from Northern Ireland but now lives in Wicklow. She started writing at the close of 2017. From a working class background she is passionate about access to the Arts for all.

Her debut novel, The Quiet Whispers Never Stop, was a winner of the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair 2020, published by John Murray Press in April 2022, and shortlisted for The Butler Literary Award and Kate O’Brien Debut Novel Prize. The Irish Examiner selected her debut as a Book of The Year 2023. An Italian edition by Altantide, Le Voci Non Si Fermano, was published in November 2022.

She is a Contributing Editor for The Stinging Fly.

Her writing can be found in many journals in print and online, including The Stinging Fly, The Irish Times, Banshee, The Cormorant, BBC Radio 4 and Irish Writers Handbook 2024.

Her writing and professional development has been generously supported by Literary Awards from the Arts Council of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wicklow County Council Arts Office, Culture Ireland, and the National Mentoring Programme WORDS IRELAND.