Horwitz Publications was founded in 1920 in Sydney, when Israel Horwitz and his wife Ruth produced the Sporting Weekly newspaper.

Stanley Horwitz joined his parents in the company after returning from service in World War II. Building on the success of Sporting Weekly, Horwitz Publications expanded its publishing activities into Westerns and comic books, launching a mix of locally drawn titles and reprints of American comics. Many of these titles became household names and remain collectibles today.

Horwitz also ventured into paperback publishing with the Sporting Westerns series and Scientific Thrillers series and Australia's first science fiction magazine, Thrills Incorporated (1950-52).

The Carter Brown series of detective stories produced in the 1950s were an immensely popular book series that were published at the rate of two per month; by 1958 the series had been translated into 14 languages and were read in 23 countries.

When television was launched in the 1950s, Horwitz moved out of comics and began producing high-quality paperbacks. By the late 1950s the company owned the rights to well-known Australian authors including: Ruth Park, D’Arcy Niland, Frank Clune, Lawson Glassop and Jon Cleary.

In 1959 Horwitz acquired the Grahame Book company – a single store on the corner of Martin Place and Elizabeth Street in Sydney. This single store was transformed into Grahame’s Books - one of Australia’s leading bookstore chains.

In 1963 Horwitz launched an education division by purchasing Owen Martin Pty Ltd. The division was broadened in 1980 with the acquisition of Carrolls Publishing Company, which specialised in primary education materials. Horwitz Education, creator of the Maths Plus series, became one of the top five publishers of pre-school and primary school books in Australia.

In the late 80s Peter Horwitz succeeded his father Stanley as Chief Executive.

Australian Mad magazine was established in 1978, followed by the purchase of TV Soap magazine in the late 80’s.

A range of audiovisual titles was acquired and a range of homegrown titles developed, each demonstrating the Horwitz understanding of the market and willingness to react to new opportunities.

Inside Sport, the only generalist sporting magazine in Australia, was launched in 1991. It was the first to include sportgirl cover shots and remains today highly prized for its in-depth investigative articles.

In the early 90’s, the Grahame’s Book Company was sold, followed by the sale of Horwitz Education to Oxford University Press in 2004.

In December 2007, Wolseley Media Pty Limited purchased all of the Horwitz popular and special interest magazine titles with the exception of Australian Penthouse.