Jon Krakauer

Jon Krakauer is an American writer and mountaineer whose work explores the extremes of human ambition, risk, and belief. He is the author of “Into the Wild,” “Into Thin Air,” “Under the Banner of Heaven,” “Three Cups of Deceit,” and “Missoula,” as well as the essay collection “Eiger Dreams.”

Krakauer developed a passion for climbing at an early age and pursued it throughout his youth and early adulthood. His mountaineering experiences, including formative expeditions in Alaska and South America, shaped the themes of survival and obsession that run through much of his writing.

Krakauer rose to international prominence after surviving the 1996 Mt. Everest disaster, in which a sudden storm claimed the lives of several climbers during their descent from the summit. His reporting on the tragedy first appeared in Outside magazine and later became the basis for his book “Into Thin Air.” The work became a No. 1 New York Times bestseller, earned critical acclaim, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction.

Earlier, Krakauer had written “Into the Wild,” which chronicled the life and death of Chris McCandless, a young man who ventured into the Alaskan wilderness in search of meaning. The book became a long-running bestseller and cemented Krakauer’s reputation as a powerful nonfiction storyteller. He later expanded his scope beyond adventure writing with “Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith,” an examination of religious extremism within Mormon Fundamentalism, and with “Three Cups of Deceit,” which investigated the life and work of Greg Mortenson. In 2015, he published “Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town,” a deeply reported book about sexual assault and institutional failure in Montana.

Krakauer’s articles have appeared in publications such as Rolling Stone, TIME, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and National Geographic. His work has been recognized with honors including the Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which praised him for combining investigative tenacity with literary insight.

In addition to writing, Krakauer has devoted himself to philanthropy. He established the Everest ’96 Memorial Fund to honor his lost teammates, supporting humanitarian and environmental causes in the Himalayas and beyond. He also serves on the boards of the American Himalayan Foundation and the Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation.

Through his books and journalism, Krakauer has become one of the most influential voices in modern nonfiction, weaving together adventure, tragedy, and human complexity with a rare mix of precision and empathy.