İhsan Oktay Anar is a Turkish writer, illustrator, literature translator, and academic, born in 1960 in Yozgat, Turkey. He studied philosophy at Ege University, completing his undergraduate studies in 1984, his graduate studies in 1989, and his doctoral studies at the same institution. Anar currently teaches at Ege University, where he lectures on antique philosophy and Greek.

In 2009, he was awarded the Erdal Öz Literature Award for his valuable novels and original style. Anar's first novel, The Atlas of Misty Continents (Puslu Kıtalar Atlası), was published in 1995 and has been translated into several languages, including French, German, and Hungarian. A comic book version by caricaturist İlban Ertem was released in the spring of 2015.

Anar's novels are fantasy pieces supported by historical facts and rumors, especially those related to the Ottoman Empire, and feature a narration that resembles fairy tales. He is renowned for his well-developed, various, and original characters, and for providing a philosophical basis for his fantasy plots. His works frequently include supernatural elements and references to folk literature and culture. Anar often uses a mixture of Ottoman and folk terminology in his Turkish writings, with references to myths and historical scriptures.

An interesting trivia is that each of his books features a character named "Uzun İhsan" (meaning "Ihsan the Tall"), which is a reference to himself. Anar is known to be a tall and imposing figure, standing over six feet four inches.