Dan Jenkins was an American author and sportswriter, most notably for Sports Illustrated. Jenkins was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, where he attended R.L. Paschal High School and Texas Christian University (TCU), playing on the varsity golf team. Jenkins worked for many publications, including the Fort Worth Press, Dallas Times Herald, Playboy, and Sports Illustrated. In 1985, he retired from Sports Illustrated and began writing books full-time while maintaining a monthly column in Golf Digest magazine. Larry King called Jenkins "the quintessential Sports Illustrated writer" and "the best sportswriter in America." Jenkins authored numerous works and over 500 articles for Sports Illustrated. In 1972, Jenkins wrote his first novel.

He was also a high-standard amateur golfer who played college golf at Texas Christian University.