Richard North Patterson

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For the British artist, see Richard Patterson.

Richard North Patterson (born February 22, 1947) is an American author of fiction. He was born in Berkeley, California, the eldest child of a retired corporate executive and a housewife. While still a child, he moved with his parents to Ohio. He grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland and graduated in 1968 from Ohio Wesleyan University. In 1971 he graduated Case Western Reserve Law School and served as an Assistant Attorney General for the state of Ohio and has been partner in several of the country’s leading law firms. He also served as the liaison for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to the Watergate Special Prosecutor.

Richard did not start writing until he was 29 and already out of law school. He began his first book, The Lasko Tangent, as part of a creative writing course at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Once it was completed, he found a publisher, and the novel won the Edgar Allan Poe Award in the category "Best First Mystery Novel (American)" in 1980. In 1993, he retired from the practice of law to devote himself to writing. Since then he has written 13 novels, with 8 consecutive international bestsellers, including No Safe Place, Eyes of a Child, and Dark Lady. His has also won the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière.

Patterson is currently chairman of the National Governing Board for Common Cause. He has served on boards of several advocacy groups dealing with gun violence, political reform, and reproductive rights. He and his family split their time between the San Francisco Bay Area and Martha's Vineyard.