Meet the author

Rick Riordan.

Writer · United States · b. 1964

Rick Riordan: creator of Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the wider Riordanverse — the defining contemporary middle-grade mythology-fantasy author for ages 9–13.

Rick Riordan is an American author born in 1964, best known as the creator of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the long-running middle-grade fantasy series (and its many sequels and spin-offs: Heroes of Olympus, Trials of Apollo, Kane Chronicles, Magnus Chase, Daughter of the Deep) that has anchored the 9–13 mythology-fantasy shelf since The Lightning Thief in 2005. Riordan came to children's writing from adult mystery novels and a teaching career, and his middle-grade voice carries that classroom feel, fast, funny, dialogue-driven, with a strong sense of fairness toward neurodivergent and outsider readers. He also runs Rick Riordan Presents, an imprint specifically platforming mythology-fantasy by authors of colour drawing on non-Greek traditions. A defining contemporary middle-grade fantasy author.