Bill O’Neal will be presented the A.C. Greene Award in September at the West Texas Book Festival in Abilene, Texas. The A.C. Greene Award is presented annually to a distinguished Texas author for lifetime achievement. The award is named for author, columnist, and Abilene native, A.C. Greene. Each year, the honored author is presented with a piece of original framed art, generously donated by the artist, H.C. Zachry.

O'Neal is the author of 42 books and more than 300 articles and book reviews on the American West including gunfighters, lawmen, ghost towns, country artists, baseball, children's books, and more.

O’Neal is the current Texas State Historian and is the only Texas State Historian to  be appointed two consecutive terms in 2012 and 2014.

Having retired as a history professor at Panola College in Carthage, TX, he continues to teach periodically and maintains a prolific writing career. O'Neal is a member of the Western Writers of America, having appeared in television documentaries on Turner Network Television, The History Channel, the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Discovery Channel, Turner Broadcasting System, and the Arts and Entertainment Channel. O'Neal has been the recipient of several awards including the 2005 National Association of Outlaw and Lawmen Association Award for "The Johnson County War,” and in 2007 he was named Best Living Non-Fiction Writer by True West Magazine.  He also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Wild West Historical Association in 2012.