Willem Frederik Hermans (1 September 1921 – 27 April 1995) was a renowned Dutch author known for his poetry, novels, short stories, plays, as well as book-length studies, essays, and literary criticism. His most famous works include The House of Refuge (novella, 1952), The Darkroom of Damocles (novel, 1958), and Beyond Sleep (novel, 1966).

After World War II, Hermans attempted to live solely from his writing, but the post-Occupation economic conditions in the Netherlands made this difficult. Between 1948 and 1957, he published three collections of short stories, most notably the novella The House of Refuge in 1952. In 1958, Hermans became a lecturer in physical geography at Groningen University, a position he held until moving to Paris, France, in 1973. In the same year, he gained widespread recognition with The Darkroom of Damocles.

Hermans was influential in the 1970s for exposing Friedrich Weinreb as a fraud who exploited Jews during the war. He famously refused the P. C. Hooft Award in 1971 but was awarded the Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren in 1977, the most prestigious literary award given every three years to a Dutch or Belgian writer.

Willem Frederik Hermans is considered one of De Grote Drie – the three most significant postwar authors in the Netherlands, alongside Harry Mulisch and Gerard Reve.