Paul E Hardisty
Author of General/contemporary fiction
based in WA
Canadian Paul Hardisty has worked all over the world as an environmental scientist, writer, and freelance journalist. This work has taken him to some of the world’s most dangerous places, including Ethiopia, Yemen, and most recently Ukraine. He criss-crossed that war-torn country in 2022, 2024, and again in 2025, working on a new book about the Russian invasion.
Paul was Director of CSIROs climate adaptation and land and water science programs from 2013 to 2017, and was CEO of the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) from 2017 to 2023. The Abrupt Physics of Dying, the first of the four novels in his critically-acclaimed Claymore Straker series, was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger and was a Telegraph Book of the Year.
His best-selling climate thriller The Forcing was short-listed for the Crime Fiction Lovers’ 2023 Awards. His book IN HOT WATER: Inside the Battle to Save the Great Barrier Reef, was shortlisted for the 2025 WA Premier’s Award for non-fiction. His new novel, The Hope, about a near future affected by climate change, is out now.
Paul is a keen outdoorsman, a conservation volunteer, and lives in Western Australia. Follow him on Instagram @paulhardisty, @Bite on the Nail on Substack, or listen to his interview with Richard Fidler on ABC’s Conversations.
