Jonathan Harr is an American writer, best known for his nonfiction work A Civil Action. Harr was born in Beloit, Wisconsin. He currently resides in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he teaches nonfiction writing at Smith College. Harr's career includes being a former staff writer at New England Monthly and contributing to The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine.

Harr dedicated approximately seven and a half years to researching and writing A Civil Action, published in 1995. The book received critical acclaim, being nominated for a National Book Award and winning the National Book Critics Circle Award. The story was adapted into a film starring John Travolta and Robert Duvall, with Robert Redford on the production team.