Ferit Orhan Pamuk is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and the recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. As one of Turkey's most prominent novelists, he has sold over 13 million books in 63 languages, making him the country's best-selling writer.

Pamuk's novels include Silent House, The White Castle, The Black Book, The New Life, My Name Is Red, and Snow. He holds the position of Robert Yik-Fong Tam Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University, where he teaches writing and comparative literature. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2018.

Born in Istanbul, Pamuk is notably the first Turkish Nobel laureate. He has also received numerous other literary awards. My Name Is Red won the 2002 Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger, the 2002 Premio Grinzane Cavour, and the 2003 International Dublin Literary Award.

The European Writers' Parliament was established as a result of a joint proposal by Pamuk and José Saramago. Pamuk's willingness to write about contentious historical and political events has put him at risk of censure in his homeland. In 2005, he was sued over a statement acknowledging the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire, intending to highlight freedom of speech issues in Turkey. Although the court initially declined to hear the case, in 2011, Pamuk was ordered to pay 6,000 liras in compensation for insulting the plaintiffs' honor.