Andy Weir
Andy Weir
b. 16 June 1972 · From United States- Books
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About
Born in 1972 in Davis, California and raised in Livermore, Andy Weir is the son of a Lawrence Livermore physicist and an electrical engineer.
He began working as a programmer at fifteen for Sandia National Laboratories, studied computer science at UC San Diego without graduating, and spent roughly twenty-five years as a software engineer at companies including AOL, Palm, MobileIron, and Blizzard, where he worked on Warcraft II.
He wrote science fiction as a hobby for years, publishing free on his website — including the viral 2009 short story ‘The Egg’ and the webcomic Cheshire Crossing — before serializing The Martian on his blog in 2011. Its self-published 99-cent Kindle edition became a bestseller, leading to a print deal with Crown and Ridley Scott’s 2015 film adaptation.
Weir won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2016, and followed with Artemis (2017) and Project Hail Mary (2021), a Hugo Award finalist adapted into a 2026 film. His work is known for rigorously researched, optimistic problem-solving and wisecracking, competent protagonists.
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Frequently asked questions
He spent about twenty-five years as a software engineer, working for companies including AOL, Palm, MobileIron, and Blizzard, where he worked on Warcraft II. He started programming at fifteen for Sandia National Laboratories.
He serialized it free on his blog, then sold a 99-cent Kindle edition that became a bestseller, leading to a print deal with Crown and Ridley Scott’s 2015 film — a self-publishing success story.
Yes. He published fiction free on his website for years, including the viral 2009 short story ‘The Egg’ and the webcomic Cheshire Crossing.
He won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2016, and Project Hail Mary was a finalist for the 2022 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
Weir is a self-taught science enthusiast and the son of a physicist; he does his own calculations and research, which gives his fiction its hallmark technical rigor.
The Martian became a 2015 film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon, and Project Hail Mary is a 2026 film starring Ryan Gosling.