Philip Pullman CBE (born October 19, 1946), is a British writer, educated at Ysgol Ardudwy, Harlech and Exeter College, Oxford (where he recieved a Third class degree), who is the best-selling author of the His Dark Materials trilogy of fantasy novels and a number of other books, purportedly for children, but attracting increasing attention by adult readers. His Dark Materials consisted of Northern Lights (The Golden Compass in the US), The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass (a short companion piece, Lyra's Oxford, containing items of interest and a short story, has also been published, and another larger companion novel, The Book of Dust, is currently being written). Pullman was awarded a CBE in the New Year's Honours list in 2004.

The first volume of the trilogy, Northern Lights, won the Carnegie Medal for children's fiction in the UK in 1995. The Amber Spyglass, the last volume, was awarded both 2001 Whitbread Prize for best children's book and the Whitbread Book of the Year prize in January 2002, the first children's book to receive that award. The trilogy won popular acclaim in late 2003, taking third place in the BBC's Big Read poll.

In 2005 Pullman was announced as joint winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for children's literature.

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