John Templeton Smith was born in Shrewsbury, England, in 1943. After serving in the RAF and working as an airline pilot for a few years, he transitioned into aerospace journalism in his 30s. It was during this period that he had the good fortune of discovering that the bestselling thriller writer, Desmond Bagley, resided nearby. With Bagley's guidance on writing novels, Smith went on to produce ten novels, with his first one, "Skytrap," published by WW Norton, NY in 1984, under the name John Smith.
In the late 1980s, Smith began teaching Creative Writing at Oklahoma City University (OCU), during which time he wrote the "John Winter Trilogy," consisting of "White Lie," "Saigon Express," and "Then a Soldier." His last published work was in 2002, but he has since completed three more novels, which remain unpublished. Currently, Smith is working on a television miniseries based on his novel, "Then A Soldier." He is best known for his "John Winter" series of novels, which has gained him a reputation as a bestselling thriller fiction author.