Richard Russell Riordan Jr., commonly known as Rick Riordan, was born on June 5, 1964. He is an acclaimed American author renowned for writing the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. His works have been translated into forty-two languages, with over thirty million copies sold in the United States alone. Riordan's literary achievements include winning two Emmy Awards as a co-creator and executive producer for the television adaptation of his book series released on Disney+ in 2023.

Rick Riordan began his literary career with Big Red Tequila, the inaugural book in the Tres Navarre series. His breakthrough came with The Lightning Thief (2005), the first novel in the five-volume Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, set in a Greco-Roman mythological world. Following the success of Percy Jackson, Riordan authored The Heroes of Olympus, a sequel series; The Kane Chronicles, focusing on Egyptian mythology; and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, centered on Norse mythology. Riordan also played a significant role in developing The 39 Clues series, penning its first book, The Maze of Bones. In 2021, he published Daughter of the Deep, and his third standalone novel, The Sun and the Star, co-written with Mark Oshiro, was released on May 2, 2023.

Before becoming a full-time writer, Riordan spent fifteen years teaching English and history at middle schools in the San Francisco Bay Area and Texas. He received the Master Teacher Award from Saint Mary’s Hall while teaching in San Antonio. Rick Riordan now lives in Boston with his wife and two sons, dedicating himself to writing and overseeing adaptations of his works, including Percy Jackson, The Kane Chronicles, and Daughter of the Deep.