Jack Ohman is the contributing columnist and editorial cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as one of America’s most-widely read editorial cartoonists. Ohman was born on September 1, 1960, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
At 19, Ohman was the youngest-ever syndicated editorial cartoonist in the United States, and has been in continuous syndication since 1980, through the Tribune Company (1980-2016), The Washington Post Writers Group (2016-2022), and again through Tribune Content Agency (2022-present).
His work appears in 200 newspapers in the United States. He has worked at the Minnesota Daily (1978-1981) The Columbus Dispatch (1981-82), the Detroit Free Press (1982-83), The Oregonian (1983-2012), The Sacramento Bee (2013-2023), and the San Francisco Chronicle (2023-present). Ohman was also Deputy California Opinion Editor at The Bee, as well as a columnist and Associate Editor.
Ohman was awarded the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning, as well as a Pulitzer finalist in 2012. He also was awarded the 2009 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, the 2011 Society of Professional Journalists/Sigma Delta Chi Award, the 2011 Scripps Howard Journalism Award, the 2002 National Headliner Club Award, as well as the finalist for the 2013 Herblock Prize. He is the recipient of the Harrison E. Salisbury Award from the University of Minnesota. He has also won the Best of The West award, as well as numerous regional and state journalism awards.
He writes a weekly opinion column for the San Francisco Chronicle, is a weekly contributor to Smerconish.com, and writes a Substack column that has 9,500 subscribers.
Ohman is the author of ten books, four on the subject of fly fishing. He is completing a book on the 1968 Oregon Democratic Primary.
Ohman has a B.A. in History from the Portland State University Honors Program, and was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Portland State in 2018. He is the only two-time President of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. He also attended the University of Minnesota from 1978-81.
He is married to Amanda V. Ohman, and he has three grown children and three stepchildren.
Check out his website: https://www.jackohman.net/
Subscribe: https://jackohman.substack.com/
What this year's judges had to say about Ohman's portfolio:
From Marty Two Bulls, Sr.:
"Jack’s loose drawing style says more with a few strokes then any long winded editorial. His work comes from a vast understanding of the inane nature of geopolitical history. I find his caricature tight and concise when portraying historical politicians making them instantly recognizable, but loose and playful rendering the people of today.
He brings his vision to his reader through deft brush work, detailed caricatures, and concise dialogue. His views, his take on politics is a voice we all need to hear. "
From Steve Brodner:
“Jack Ohman‘s art sets a very high bar for the cartoon form. The work lives in his own creative universe, which uses surprising stylistic solutions to strengthen storytelling. His portfolio was strong and wide-ranging in concept, moral force, graphic solution and humor.
From Rob Rogers:
"If Mad Magazine and Thomas Nast had a baby it would be Jack Ohman. Ohman creates cartoons that balance whimsical wackiness and incisive political criticism brilliantly. He fabricates worlds where looming, detailed architectural structures dwarf comically small people and politicians. Ohman is a consummate draftsman, channeling the looseness of a watercolor painter and the precision of an industrial designer. Echoing Herblock's genius, Ohman's cartoons fearlessly and humorously champion civil rights, free speech and the rule of law in the shadow of a lawless government."
Herb Block is among the world’s best known and most admired political cartoonists. Born on October 13, 1909, the native Chicagoan spent his 72-year career fighting against abuses of the powerful.