Ole Christian Risom was one of the most influential children's book publishers of the twentieth century. He was vice president and art director of Golden Books at Western Publishing Company from 1952-1972, and then vice president and associate publisher of the juvenile division of Random House from 1972-1990. He worked closely with his good friend Richard Scarry over the years at both houses. He also worked with Dr. Seuss, Jim Henson, Stan and Jan Berenstain, Leo Lionni, Laurent de Brunhoff, Charles M. Schulz and Marc Brown.