Patrick Spencer Johnson (November 24, 1938 – July 3, 2017) was an American writer. He was known for the ValueTales series of children's books, and for his 1998 self-help book Who Moved My Cheese?, which recurred on the New York Times Bestseller list, on the Publishers Weekly Hardcover nonfiction list. Johnson was the chairman of Spencer Johnson Partners.

Biography

Spencer Johnson was born in Watertown, South Dakota, graduated from Notre Dame High School of Sherman Oaks, California, in 1957, received a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of Southern California in 1963, and his medical degree from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Johnson lived in Hawaii and New Hampshire. He was employed by the Harvard Business School and the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He died in San Diego on July 3, 2017, at the age of 78.

Notable works

Johnson wrote the book "Yes" or "No": The Guide to Better Decisions (1992). He co-authored the One Minute Manager series of books with management writer Ken Blanchard, though each author has added their own books to the series. Johnson's last book, Out of the Maze, is a sequel to Who Moved My Cheese that references Johnson's struggle with cancer (which ultimately ended with his death in 2017) and was published posthumously in 2018. Johnson's books have been translated into twenty-six languages.