Richard Russell Riordan Jr., better known as Rick Riordan, is an acclaimed American author born on June 5, 1964. He is best known for the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, which has been translated into forty-two languages with over thirty million copies sold in the United States alone. His works have spurred various adaptations, including films and a television series on Disney+ where Riordan served as a co-creator and executive producer, earning two Emmy Awards.

Riordan's first full-length novel was Big Red Tequila, launching the Tres Navarre mystery series. His major breakthrough came with The Lightning Thief in 2005, the first of five books in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, intertwining modern adolescents with Greco-Roman myths.

Subsequently, 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. He also contributed to the development of The 39 Clues series, penning its first book, The Maze of Bones. In 2021, he released Daughter of the Deep, followed by The Sun and the Star, co-written with Mark Oshiro, in 2023.

Before becoming a full-time writer, Riordan taught English and history at middle schools in the San Francisco Bay Area and Texas for fifteen years. He was honored with the Master Teacher Award at Saint Mary's Hall in San Antonio. Over 190 million copies of his books are in print worldwide. Riordan currently resides in Boston with his family.