John Larison was born in 1979 in Philomath, Oregon.  The son of National Geographic filmmakers, much of his childhood was spent traveling, often staying in remote tropical or mountainous regions among subsistence communities. He attended the University of Oregon and studied philosophy and literature, and stayed to earn a Master’s of Education. While learning to write fiction, he worked as a fly fishing and whitewater guide in the Pacific Northwest. In 2007, he earned am MFA at Oregon State University.

 His first book was a how-to text on fly-fishing, The Complete Steelheader (Stackpole 2008). He went on to publish two fishing related novels Northwest of Normal (Barclay Creek 2009) and Holding Lies (Skyhorse 2011).

His 2018 novel, Whiskey When We’re Dry, was a Los Angeles Times and Seattle Times bestseller, an Indie Next Pick in hardcover and paperback, a finalist for the Ken Kesey Award and the Gold Crown Award (UK), and winner of the Will Rodgers Medallion. It was named a Best Book by O Magazine, Goodreads, Entertainment Weekly, Outside Magazine, Powell's, The Times (United Kingdom), the BBC, and others. It was featured on NPR's All Things Considered.

His 2024 novel, The Ancients, will be released by Viking in October. It has been selected a Buzz Book by Publishers Marketplace.

If you’d like to learn more about John’s childhood, check out the hair-raising adventure memoir On Assignment, written by his filmmaker father, James Larison, and published in 2021.