Jon Krakauer is an American writer and mountaineer best known for his books about the outdoors, especially his acclaimed non-fiction work Into the Wild. He was born in 1954 in Brookline, Massachusetts and grew up in Corvallis, Oregon. Krakauer attended Hampshire College in Massachusetts and graduated in 1976. After college, he moved to Seattle, Washington and began writing for various publications, including Outside magazine. Krakauer is most famous for his book Into the Wild, which tells the story of Christopher McCandless, a young man who ventured into the Alaskan wilderness in search of adventure and self-discovery. The book was a huge success and was later adapted into a feature film. Krakauer has also written several other books, including Into Thin Air, which chronicles his experience climbing Mount Everest, and Under the Banner of Heaven, which examines the history of the Mormon Church. Krakauer is an avid outdoorsman and has climbed some of the world’s most challenging peaks, including Mount McKinley in Alaska and Mount Everest in Nepal. He is also an advocate for environmental causes and has written extensively about the effects of climate change. Krakauer continues to write and explore the outdoors, and his work has been praised for its insight and passion.