Robert Greene is an American writer known for writing strategy and self-improvement nonfiction books. Born in 1959, he grew up in a Jewish family in Los Angeles and briefly attended the University of California, Berkeley before finishing his education at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Classical Studies. Greene worked in Hollywood film writing, magazine editing, and construction before he met book packager Joost Elffers in 1995 while working in Italy and pitched his first book to him. 

Greene’s first book, The 48 Laws of Power, was published in 1998, followed by The Art of Seduction (2001), The 33 Strategies of War (2006), The 50th Law (2009), which he co-wrote with American rapper 50 Cent, Mastery (2012), The Laws of Nature (2018), and The Daily Laws (2021). Greene has also done presentations on Talks at Google for his books Mastery and The Laws of Human Nature in 2013 and 2018, respectively, and a presentation at TED called “The key to transforming yourself.” His books have been featured by multiple media sources, including The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Forbes, The New Yorker, and Newsweek.