Delia Owens is an American author, zoologist, and conservationist, born on April 4, 1949, in Southern Georgia. She has carved a niche for herself with her 2018 novel Where the Crawdads Sing, which not only became one of the best-selling books of all time but also saw a 2022 film adaptation of the same name.

Owens was immersed in wilderness from an early age, growing up in or near true wilderness. She pursued her passion for the natural world academically, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology from the University of Georgia, followed by a PhD in animal behavior from the University of California, Davis. Her life took a significant turn when she met Mark Owens in a protozoology class at the University of Georgia. Both were graduate students in biology, and they married in 1973. A year later, they moved to southern Africa to study animals in the Kalahari Desert and Zambia. This African adventure became the subject of her memoirs Cry of the Kalahari, The Eye of the Elephant, and Secrets of the Savanna.

However, the couple's time in Africa was not without controversy. They were expelled from Botswana and are wanted for questioning in Zambia in relation to a murder investigation. Eventually, the couple parted ways. Upon returning to the United States, Owens has been actively involved in bear conservation. In addition to her novel, Owens is the co-author of three internationally bestselling nonfiction books about her life as a wildlife scientist in Africa, and has received the John Burroughs Award for Nature Writing. Her work has been published in Nature, The African Journal of Ecology, and International Wildlife, among others.

Owens currently resides in Idaho, where she continues her support for the people and wildlife of Zambia.