Peter Bradford Benchley (May 8, 1940 – February 11, 2006) was an American author, screenwriter, and environmental activist. He is best known for his bestselling novel Jaws and co-wrote its movie adaptation with Carl Gottlieb. Several more of his works were also adapted for both cinema and television, including The Deep, The Island, Beast, and White Shark.

Later in life, Benchley expressed some regret for his writing about sharks, which he felt indulged already present fear and false belief about sharks, and he became an advocate for marine conservation. Contrary to widespread rumor, Benchley did not believe that his writings contributed to shark depopulation, nor is there evidence that Jaws or any of his works did so.

Benchley was from a literary family. He was the son of author Nathaniel Benchley and grandson of Algonquin Round Table founder Robert Benchley. His younger brother, Nat Benchley, is a writer and actor. Benchley was an alumnus of Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard University. After completing his studies, he worked successively at the Washington Post, Newsweek magazine where he became an editor, National Geographic, and even the White House, where he wrote political speeches for Lyndon B. Johnson.