The Martian is Andy Weir's first print book. Weir drafted it while working in the tech industry, and the novel was originally published on the Internet, before Crown/Random House published out a trade print version in 2014.
A 2014 article in the San Jose Mercury-News notes that Weir studied computer science at UC San Diego and worked for numerous software companies. Weir's hobbies include studying scientific disciplines like relativistic physics and orbital mechanics, and Weir states that "'all of the science [in The Martian] is real.'" Some of Weir's stories, written before The Martian, achieved notoriety online, especially "The Egg," which still receives thousands of hits every day.
In a Jan. 2015 "Ask-Me-Anything" (AMA) forum on Reddit, Weir describes his excitement at the Ridley Scott film adaptation of The Martian (2015), and his career transition from amateur to professional writer. Weir is also the author of Artemis (2017), which received less enthusiastic notices than The Martian. His pre-Martian archives are still accessible at http://www.galactanet.com/writing.html. The Martian was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award.
Weir is a lifelong Californian.