John Galligan was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, and is now a native of Madison, Wisconsin. In addition to being a novelist and teacher, John has worked as a newspaper journalist, feature-film screenwriter, house painter, au pair, ESL teacher, cab driver, and freezer boy in a salmon cannery. He currently teaches writing at Madison Area Technical College, where his experience is enriched by students from every corner of the local and world community. He won awards as a feature journalist, sports journalist, and short story writer before settling on a career as a novelist. His first novel, the critically acclaimed Red Sky, Red Dragonfly, was based on his experiences living, teaching, and traveling in Japan. John's second novel, The Nail Knot, exploited his passion for fly fishing and launched a new murder mystery series featuring trout bum-sleuth Ned "The Dog" Oglivie, who plies trout-country back roads in his old RV, attempting to avoid human contact but meeting plenty of folks anyway, live and otherwise. Besides fly fishing, John enjoys camping, gardening, cooking, jazz music, basketball, Japanese culture and history. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with degrees in Environmental Policy (BS) and English Literature (MA).

His publications include short stories (Epiphany Best Story Award and Pushcart Prize Nomination, 1993) and feature film screenplays. He is also a former newspaper journalist. He has lived, taught, and traveled extensively in Japan.