David Baldacci was born in 1960 in Richmond, Virginia. He started writing as a child, when he would record his stories in a lined notebook. He did his undergraduate degree at Virginia Commonwealth University and then went on to earn a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Baldacci worked as a attorney in Washington D.C for nine years. He wrote his first novel over the course of 3 years while practicing law, and published it in 1996 under the title Absolute Power. The book was made into a movie starring Clint Eastwood, which came out the following year. Since then, Baldacci has turned to writing full time and published nearly 40 novels for adults--all of which have hit the bestseller list--and several children's titles.
Baldacci and his wife, Michelle, live in Fairfax, Virginia and are active philanthropists. Together they founded the Wish You Well Foundation®, which supports family and adult literacy in the United States. In 2008 the Foundation partnered with Feeding America to launch Feeding Body & Mind, a program which collects used books and distributes them to food banks. They are also supporters of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. They have two children.