Dan Brown is an American author who is best known for his 2003 bestselling novel, "The Da Vinci Code." His books are popular world wide and have been translated into over 40 languages. As of 2009, over 80 million copies of his books have been sold. His books are treasure hunts that are set in a 24 hour period with recurring themes. The themes are built around cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories.

The author was born in New Hampshire. His father was a textbook author and was a teacher emeritus of mathematics at Phillips Exeter Academy. Brown's early family background included treasure hunts with puzzles, codes, and ciphers, which the children participated in as devised by the father on birthdays and holidays.

Brown graduated from Amherst College in 1986. He did some work in music with a synthesizer and self-produced children's cassette. He later moved to Hollywood where he hoped to become a singer-songwriter and pianist. He married Blythe Newlon who helped to promote Brown's projects by writing press releases, setting up promotional events, researching, and helping him make important contacts for his career. After moving back to New Hampshire in 1993, he became an English teacher and taught Spanish to sixth, seventh, and eighth graders.

In 1996, he quit teaching to become a full-time writer. His first three novels were not successful at first, but his fourth novel, "The Da Vinci Code," became a best seller. By 2004 all four of his novels were on the "New York Times" list. After that he was listed on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people and placed #12 on the Forbes "Celebrity 100" list. Brown has stated that he has ideas for about 12 future books featuring Robert Langdon.