Jack Canfield (born August 19, 1944) is an American author, motivational speaker, seminar leader, corporate trainer, and entrepreneur. Canfield was born in Fort Worth, Texas on August 19, 1944. He spent his teen years in Wheeling, West Virginia and graduated from the Linsey Military Institute in 1962. Canfield received an A.B. in Chinese History from Harvard University in 1966. He received his M.Ed. in 1973 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Canfield received an honorary Ph.D. from the University of Santa Monica in 1981.

Canfield began his career in 1967 when he taught a year of high school in Chicago, Illinois. In 1976 Canfield co-authored 100 Ways to Enhance Self-Concept in the Classroom: A Handbook for Teachers and Parents. Canfield is the founder and CEO of The Canfield Training Group in Santa Barbara, California and founder of The Foundation for Self-Esteem in Culver City, California. Canfield hosts a radio program and writes a globally syndicated newspaper column. He holds a Guinness World Record for having seven books on the New York Times best-seller list at the same time. In 2006 Canfield was featured in a self-development film called The Secret. His best known books include: The Power of Focus, The Aladdin Factor, and Dare to Win. In 2005 Canfield co-authored The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. He is a founding member of the Transformational Leadership Council. Canfield coauthored Chicken Soup for the Soul with Mark Victor Hansen in 1993. According to USA Today, Chicken Soup for the Soul was the third best-selling book in the United States during the mid-1990s. Canfield later co-authored dozens of additional books in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

Canfield married in 1971 and had four children before he divorced in 1976. A few years later he remarried and had a fifth child. He divorced in 1999 and married for a third time in 2001. For over 40 years, he has been teaching entrepreneurs, educators, corporate leaders, and people from all walks of life how to create the life they desire.