Peter Ackroyd (East Acton (London), October 5, 1949) is an English novelist and biographer, known for his interest in the history and culture of London. He graduated from Clare College, Cambridge University and studied with a Scholarship at Yale in the US He has been literary director of El Espectador magazine and head of the literary section of The Times, and has worked as a press and television critic.

Starting in poetry, he has been above all an essayist and novelist, being well known for his fictionalized biographies and for his historical novels, usually developed in London. His novels are perfectly documented and in great detail, characterized by the interaction between past and present. He has received numerous awards.