Dan Brown grew up as the eldest child of three in Exeter, New Hampshire. His mother was a professional musician, excelling in the performance of sacred music. Dan attended public school until ninth grade when he began living with his parents at Phillips Exeter Academy where he later graduated in 1982.

            After his graduation from Exeter Academy, Brown attended Amherst College, graduating with a degree in Spanish and English. After graduation, Brown moved to Los Angeles, California, where he aspired to become a composer and musician. His music career was very short lived and he had poor success. To supplement his income, Brown began teaching Spanish at Beverly Hills Preparatory School, where he also met Blythe Newlon. Newlon became the artistic director at the National Academy of Songwriters. As their relationship developed, Blythe used her influence in attempts to further Dan Brown's musical career. Still, Brown failed to achieve recognition and moved back to Exeter, New Hampshire, where he acquired a job teaching English at Phillips Exeter Academy. Blythe Newlon accompanied him back to his home town.

            Brown recalls his inspiration for writing from Sidney Sheldon's Doomsday Conspiracy, of which he found a copy on a beach. In 1995, Brown and Newlon wrote Men to Avoid: A Guide for the Romantically Frustrated Woman, as a joint work between the both of them. In 1996, Dan Brown became a full time writer, attributing all his time to his writing. Dan and Blythe were married in the spring of 1997, one year before his first best seller, Digital Fortress, appeared on shelves. He then went on to write Angels and Demons and Deception Point. Brown attributed an acknowledgement to Blythe in the early pages of Deception Point, thanking her for her tireless efforts in research and input. In 2003, 5 years after the completion of his first novel, he published The Da Vinci Code which sold over 6,000 copies in its first day of release and soared to the top of best seller lists. The Da Vinci Code became the top best seller in the New York Times, in its first week of publication.

  Dan Brown and his siblings donated $2.2 million to the Phillips Exeter Academy in 2004. This established the Richard G. Brown Technology Endowments. Funds went toward the purchase of computers and learning tools for the benefit of the students at Phillip Exeter Academy. The fund was organized in memory of Brown’s father, Richard.

            Brown encountered legal trouble in April 2006 when he was sued for copyright infringement of a previously published work. London's High Court ruled that The Da Vinci Code did not breach the copyright of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, written by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh.

            The novel The Da Vinci Code continues to appear on top seller lists as its popularity grows. It holds the record for the fastest selling adult novel, with over 40 million copies in print or circulation. This best seller is also to become a motion picture and will appear in theaters on May 19, 2006.