Max Barry is an Australian author born on 18 March 1973. He initially spelled his name as "Maxx" for his first novel, Syrup, but later adopted the spelling "Max". Barry is known for creating the online game NationStates, which started as a promotional tool for his novel Jennifer Government and grew into a standalone online community.

Before becoming a full-time novelist, Max Barry worked as a marketer for Hewlett-Packard. He currently resides in Melbourne with his wife and daughters. Barry maintains a personal blog on his website, covering various topics including politics.

He converted his website into a blog in early 2004 and frequently posts updates. His novel Company was featured in the November 2004 issue of Fast Company magazine, ranking eighth in a list of the top 100 "people, ideas, and trends that will change how we work and live in 2005". Additionally, he wrote the screenplay for Syrup, released in theatres on 7 June 2013. Universal Pictures has secured the screen rights to Company, with Steve Pink set to adapt it. The rights to his book Jennifer Government were optioned by Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney's Section Eight Productions.

Machine Man, another of Barry's works, was initially published as an online serial but was later released as a complete book in 2011 by Vintage Books. The film rights for this book have been acquired by Mandalay Pictures.