Although born in Los Angeles, Don Harstad and his mother moved to Iowa shortly after the death of his father, who was killed in the Southwest Pacific in World War II. Here he met his wife, Mary, where they both attended Central. They were married in 1964 and moved to Los Angeles.

While in Los Angeles, Mr. Harstad worked for Four Star Television and CBS Theatrical Film, beginning in the mailroom and then transferring to plant management. He feels that the experience working in a television/movie industry was invaluable. After the birth of their daughter, Erica, in 1966, the Harstad’s eventually began to have concerns about raising a child in the Los Angeles area. In 1970, they returned to Iowa where Mr. Harstad took a job as a police dispatcher and Mary began her teaching career.

In 1973, Mr. Harstad became a Deputy Sheriff and continued with that career until 1996 when he resigned from the Sheriff's Department to begin a writing career. During his years as a Deputy Sheriff, he was a patrol officer, a Department of Intelligence officer, and eventually Chief Investigator. The many and varied experiences he had during that time have provided him with a large base of information, which he draws upon for many of the characters and situations described in his novels.

Mr. Harstad’s first novel, Eleven Days, was nominated for the national Anthony Award as Best First Novel of the Year in 1998. In 2000, the story was sold to Warner Brothers Theatrical Film Division. The film rights are currently owned by a different company. All five of his published novels have been translated into seven different languages. So far, one of the highlights of his writing career has been signing books in London, Dublin, and Cambridge, and having several interviews on the BBC.