Lawrence O'Donnell

Lawrence O’Donnell hosts “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” at 10 p.m. on msnbc. Each night, O’Donnell relies on his extraordinary background in politics, entertainment and news, to provide the last word on the biggest issues and most compelling stories of the day.

O’Donnell joined msnbc as a political analyst in 1996. He is an Emmy Award-winning executive producer and writer for the NBC series “The West Wing” and creator and executive producer of the NBC series, “Mister Sterling.”

From 1989 through 1992, O'Donnell served as Senior Advisor to Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. In 1992, he was Chief of Staff to the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works. From 1993 through 1995 he was the Chief of Staff of the Senate Finance Committee. He first began working with Sen. Moynihan as Director of Communications in the Senator's 1988 re-election campaign.

A writer prior to entering politics and government, O'Donnell published the book Deadly Force (1983), which was adapted as a CBS movie in 1986. He has written essays and articles for several publications including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, People, Spy, and Boston Magazine. O'Donnell has also appeared on NBC News’ “Today,” “Good Morning America,” “Nightline,” “Charlie Rose,” and several other programs. Suffolk University awarded O'Donnell an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, in 2001.

Born in Boston, O'Donnell is a graduate of Harvard College.