KK Ottesen documents the stories of people's lives through photographs and written narrative.  Her first book, Great Americans, explores the lives of everyday people all across the United States, who happen to share names with some of the country's most famous and infamous icons.  Great Americans has been featured on The Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning, NPR's All Things Considered, Public Radio International, Eye on Books, and Fox Morning News; as well as in newspapers and magazines across the country, including The San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times, Chicago Sun Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, New York Observer, Reader's Digest, and Entertainment Weekly.  Ottesen is currently working on her second book, and contributes regularly to The Washington Post Magazine's First Person Singular feature, and has contributed recently to Esquire Magazine.  She also enjoys taking on select commissioned work.

 KK Ottesen Photograph
Before returning to her dual loves of writing and photography, Ms. Ottesen did a stint on Wall Street as an investment banker, and spent two years as President and CEO of a national non-profit promoting investment in lower-income communities.  She is active in work to provide educational and life experiences for students in high-poverty DC schools through volunteer work with an exceptional non-profit called Live It Learn It.  Ottesen earned her BA from Wesleyan University and her MBA from Yale University.  She lives in Washington, DC with her husband and their two young children.