To ensure the security of image transmission, this paper presents a new image encryption algorithm based on a genetic algorithm (GA) and a piecewise linear chaotic map (PWLCM), which adopts the classical diffusion-substitution architecture. The GA is used to identify and output the optimal encrypted image that has the highest entropy value, the lowest correlation coefficient among adjacent pixels and the strongest ability to resist differential attack. The PWLCM is used to scramble pixel positions and change pixel values. Experiments and analyses show that the new algorithm possesses a large key space and resists brute-force, statistical and differential attacks. Meanwhile, the comparative analysis also indicates the superiority of our proposed algorithm over a similar, recently published, algorithm.