Chris Hammer is a leading Australian crime fiction novelist, author of the internationally bestselling Martin Scarsden series: Scrublands, Silver, Trust and now Legacy. Scrublands was shortlisted for major writing awards in Australia, the UK and the United States. In the UK it was named the Sunday Times Crime Novel of the Year 2019 and won the prestigious UK Crime Writers' Association John Creasey New Blood Dagger Award. Scrublands was adapted for TV and aired on BBC 4 in the UK in November 2023. A second series based on Silver will air later this year. Chris also writes the award-winning series featuring homicide detectives Nell Buchanan and Ivan Lucic: Opal Country; Dead Man's Creek; Cover The Bones; and The Broken River. Before turning to fiction, Chris was a journalist for more than thirty years. He reported from more than 30 countries on six continents for SBS TV.

In Canberra, roles included chief political correspondent for The Bulletin, senior writer for The Age and Online Political Editor for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. Chris has written two non-fiction books The River (2010) - winner of the ACT Book of the Year - and The Coast (2012), published by Melbourne University Press. The River has just been republished in a special new edition (2025). Chris lives in Canberra, Australia.