Olga Grushin was born in Moscow in 1971. After studying art and journalism in Moscow, she was awarded a full scholarship to Emory University in 1989. Her first novel, The Dream Life of Sukhanov, earned her a place on Granta's list of Best Young American Novelists and won her the New York Public Library's Young Lions Award; it was also a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Best First Novel award and for Britain's Orange Prize. In 2002 she became an American citizen. She lives in Potomac, Maryland.
