Philip Yancey earned graduate degrees in Communications and English from Wheaton College Graduate School and the University of Chicago. He joined the staff of Campus Life Magazine in 1971, and worked there as Editor for eight years.

Since 1978 Philip Yancey has primarily concentrated on freelance writing. More than 600 of his articles have appeared in 80 different publications, including Reader's Digest, Publisher's Weekly, National Wildlife, Saturday Evening Post, Christian Century and the Reformed Journal. He writes articles and a monthly column for Christianity Today magazine, which he serves as Editor at Large. Also, he serves as Co-Chair of the Editorial Board for Books and Culture, a recent publication of Christianity Today.

His sixteen books include Where is God When It Hurts and Disappointment with God. These books have won eleven Gold Medallion Awards from a religious publishers' association and have sold more than five million copies. (Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, In His Image, and The Gift of Pain were co-authored with Dr. Paul Brand.) Christian bookstore managers selected The Jesus I Never Knew as the 1996 Book of the Year, and What's So Amazing About Grace? won the same award in 1998.

The Yanceys lived in downtown Chicago for many years before moving to a very different environment in Colorado. They enjoy hiking, wildlife, and all the other delights of the Rocky Mountains.