Rick Riordan | Biography, Books, & Facts (2024)

Rick Riordan (born June 5, 1964, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.) is an American author and teacher who was perhaps best known for his hugely popular Percy Jackson and the Olympians book series, which blends Greek mythology with modern-day characters and settings.

Riordan attended North Texas State University (now University of North Texas) in Denton before transferring to the University of Texas at Austin, from which he graduated with bachelor’s degrees in history and English. He then received his teacher’s certification from the University of Texas at San Antonio. After teaching middle school in Texas and California for about 15 years, Riordan quit to dedicate himself to writing full-time.

Riordan began his professional writing career with a mystery series centring on private investigator Jackson (“Tres”) Navarre. The first book, Big Red Tequila, was published in 1997, and the seventh and final installment, Rebel Island, appeared in 2007.

He began writing for young adults after his son asked him to tell bedtime stories involving Greek gods. Once he related all the myths he knew, Riordan began making up stories, and the idea for Percy Jackson was created. Percy is a 12-year-old boy with both attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia, and he embarks on various adventures after learning that he is a demigod. The five-book series included The Lightning Thief (2005; film 2010), The Sea of Monsters (2006; film 2013), The Titan’s Curse (2007), The Battle of the Labyrinth (2008), and The Last Olympian (2009).

Continuing to explore mythology, Riordan wrote the Heroes of Olympus series. Although it features a new set of main characters, individuals from the Percy Jackson series occasionally make appearances. The five books in the series were The Lost Hero (2010), The Son of Neptune (2011), The Mark of Athena (2012), The House of Hades (2013), and The Blood of Olympus (2014). A sequel series, The Trials of Apollo, began with The Hidden Oracle (2016) and featured four subsequent installments: The Dark Prophecy (2017), The Burning Maze (2018), The Tyrant’s Tomb (2019), and The Tower of Nero (2020).

During this time, Riordan also wrote the Kane Chronicles, a trilogy involving Egyptian mythology: The Red Pyramid (2010), The Throne of Fire (2011), and The Serpent’s Shadow (2012). He then turned to Norse mythology with the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard trilogy: The Sword of Summer (2015), The Hammer of Thor (2016), and The Ship of the Dead (2017). Daughter of the Deep, a modern-day reimagining of Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, was published in 2021. In addition, he created the overall story line for the 39 Clues series, about two children who race around the world searching for hidden clues. The adventure series features books written by different authors—Riordan penned the first book, The Maze of Bones (2008), and cowrote the 11th installment, Vespers Rising (2011)—and includes additional cards and Internet gaming activities.