Eiichiro Oda, born on 1 January 1975 in Kumamoto, Japan, is a renowned manga artist and the creator of One Piece. Oda's creation has become the best-selling manga in history, with more than 523.2 million tankōbon copies in circulation worldwide, and it also holds the title for the best-selling comic series printed in volume. This monumental success has placed Oda among the best-selling fiction authors. His work has been so influential that he is recognized as one of the manga artists that changed the history of manga.

Oda's love for drawing and storytelling was inspired by the works of Akira Toriyama. His fascination with pirates can be traced back to his enjoyment of the TV animation series Vicky the Viking. Even in his early years, Oda's creativity shone through; he submitted a character named Pandaman for Yudetamago's wrestling manga Kinnikuman, which not only appeared in the manga but later became a recurring cameo in Oda's own works.

Aside from his professional achievements, Eiichiro Oda's personal life includes his marriage to Chiaki Inaba, a former model and actress, in November 2004. They met the previous year and have since become parents to two daughters, born in mid-2006 and 2009, respectively.