Dan Gerhard Brown was born on June 22, 1964, to Richard and Constance Brown. Richard Brown was a mathematics teacher at Phillips Exeter Academy, and he wrote math textbooks. Constance “Connie” Brown was an organist at the Browns’ local Episcopal church. Brown became fascinated by the paradox between science, mathematics, and religion because his parents having occupations in those areas. This would later become an inspiration for the writing in his books. When Dan Brown was young, he lived and attended school at Phillips Exeter Academy with his siblings, Valerie and Gregory. Growing up, Dan didn’t have a TV, so he spent his time reading books and listening to classical music.  When Dan Brown was five years old, he created his own children’s book, which would be the first of many books that he would write. Dan and his siblings would do anagrams and crossword puzzles and create codes using ciphers while growing up. Occasionally, on holidays or birthdays, Richard would create scavenger hunts for the children to complete. The puzzles and scavenger hunts would eventually become very prevalent in his books. 

Dan Brown graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1982. After graduating from Phillips Exeter, Dan Brown went to Amherst College in Massachusetts. He double-majored in English and Spanish at Amherst and graduated in 1986. After graduating from Amherst, Dan Brown pursued a career as a musician. While pursuing his career as a songwriter, Dan Brown met his future wife, Blythe Newlon, at the National Academy of Songwriters in 1990. Originally, Dan Brown made synth-only albums until 1991. Some of these albums included SynthAnimals and Perspective. These albums did very poorly barely selling more than 100 copies. In 1991, Dan Brown became a singer-songwriter and pianist. On the side, Dan Brown taught English at Beverly Hills Preparatory High School as an English teacher. While pursuing this career, Dan Brown released the music CD Angels & Demons. In 1993 Dan Brown moved away from being a singer-songwriter, and became a full-time English teacher.

Dan Brown was an English teacher until 1996, when he quit in order to become an author. In 1996, Dan Brown wrote his first book, Digital Fortress. Digital Fortress is about a codebreaker who has to stop a deadly computer virus before it destroys the world. Digital Fortress was a flop when it was first released, selling fewer than 10,000 copies. After Dan Brown wrote Digital Fortress, he married his wife, Blythe Newlon, in 1997. In 2000 Dan Brown wrote Angels & Demons which is the first book in the Robert Langdon series. This book reused the title from the previous music CD, and based most of its story on the cover art. The symbol on the cover art was the symmetrical Illuminati symbol. The story follows a Harvard professor who has to decode clues and use history to find a bomb that is about to destroy the Vatican. This book was also a flop when it was first released, with it also selling fewer than 10,000 copies. In 2001 Dan Brown wrote his third book, Deception Point. Deception Point is about two people, Rachel and Michael, who try to expose a government hoax while being hunted by the government. This was his third flop, with it also only selling less than 10,000 copies after its release. In 2003, Dan Brown wrote his fourth book and second in the Robert Langdon series, The Da Vinci Code. The Da Vinci Code is about Robert Langdon, who has to solve clues and discover past secrets to uncover the truth about the Holy Grail, while being pursued by killers and the police. The Da Vinci Code became a massive hit. It sold over 80 million copies and became one of the best-selling books of all time. It became a bestseller a week after it was released and led people to start reading his previous works. All three of the previous books before The Da Vinci Code became double platinum, signifying that the books sold at least 1 million copies. Angels & Demons has sold 39 million copies. Because of the massive success of The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown was ranked number 12 in the “Celebrity 100” list by Forbes. After the massive success of The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown went on to write another book in the Robert Langdon series, The Lost Symbol. The Lost Symbol follows Robert Langdon as he tries to rescue a kidnapped person while in Washington D.C. The Lost Symbol sold 1 million copies on its first day and has sold over 30 million copies worldwide in total since 2009.  Dan Brown went on to write 3 more novels in the Robert Langdon series. In September 2025, Dan Brown reached the milestone of 250 million copies sold, a milestone reached by very few authors. Dan Brown currently lives in New England with a net worth of $178 million.