Kolya Osinov

Nikolai "Kolya" Osinov is an American writer, cartoonist, librarian and folklorist. He is known for his webcomic Friends of a Friend, which draws upon his interests in legend and rumor transmission and morphology.

Early life
Osinov was born in Pleasantville, New York to Lithuanian-Jewish parents. His mother, born in Johannesburg, was a middle school history teacher and his father worked as a master control operator for the Fox News Channel. Osinov has described his family as being "upper middle class and secular-- really, really comfortable". Osinov was diagnosed with generalized anxiety and Asperger syndrome in elementary school. From a young age, Osinov was intensely interested in reading fiction.

Osinov graduated from Alfred University with a bachelor's degree in communication studies, and later completed his master's degree in library and information science at the University of Alberta.