John Silvester
Walkley Award-Winning Journalist & Crime Reporter
Victoria’s most experienced crime reporter, John speaks regularly on crime, law, leadership and public safety at conferences across Australia.
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John Silvester is a Walkley Award-winning journalist, senior crime reporter for The Age, and a highly respected public speaker. Victoria’s most experienced crime reporter, he has covered the beat since the late 1970s and regularly addresses police, judicial, legal and corporate conferences.
John writes the Walkley Award-winning Naked City column and appears weekly on 3AW as crime commentator “Sly of the Underworld.” He has co-authored the bestselling Underbelly True Crime Series with Andrew Rule and authored or co-written 15 true crime books, collectively selling over one million copies in Australia. His work has been adapted into the top-rating Underbelly television series, and he has presented critically acclaimed crime documentaries, including ABC’s Trigger Point and the Logie-winning Conviction.
A highly decorated journalist, John has won eight Melbourne Press Club Quill Awards, ten Victorian Law Foundation Awards, four Walkley Awards, a Ned Kelly Award for true crime writing, and a Ned Kelly Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2007, he was named Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year and in 2018 was inducted into the Australian Journalism Hall of Fame.
John holds a Bachelor of Arts from La Trobe University and has provided evidence in Royal Commissions on crime and corruption, reflecting his unmatched expertise in crime reporting and analysis.
