A native of Salem, Oregon, William L. Sullivan studied at Deep Springs College, a remote school in the California desert where his duties included milking cows by hand. After transferring to Cornell University and completing a bachelor's degree in English, he studied linguistics for two years at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. In 1979 he earned an M.A. in German literature at the University of Oregon.
In 1985 Sullivan backpacked more than a thousand miles across Oregon to research the state's wilderness areas. His journal of that adventure, "Listening for Coyote," was chosen one of Oregon's "100 Books." Since then he has authored seven novels, two books on Oregon history , and many Oregon guidebooks. He also writes feature columns for Eugene Weekly, the Eugene Register-Guard, and the Salem Statesman-Journal.
When he's not writing, Sullivan plays the pipe organ,reads books in seven languages, and undertakes backcountry ski expeditions. He and his wife, Janell Sorensen, live in Eugene during the winter. They spend about six weeks each summer far from roads, mail, and telephones at their log cabin in the Oregon Coast Range, where he continues to write his books with a typewriter.