Catherine Jinks (born 1963) is an Australian author. She has written more than 30 books for all ages, and has won many awards, including the Children's Book Council Of Australia Book of the Year Award three times, the Victorian Premier's Literary Award, the Aurealis Award for Science Fiction, the IBBY Australia Ena Noel Encouragement Award, and the Davitt Award for Crime Fiction.
Catherine was born in Brisbane, Queensland. She grew up in Papua New Guinea, where her father worked as a patrol officer. She went to high school in Sydney. In 2006, her alma mater, Ku-ring-gai High School, named its library after her. From 1982 to 1986, Catherine studied at the University of Sydney, graduating with an honours degree in medieval history. She then worked on Westpac Banking Corporation’s staff magazine for approximately seven years. In 1992 she married Peter Dockrill, a Canadian journalist; in 1993 she and her husband left Australia for a brief spell in Nova Scotia, where she began to write full time. They returned to Australia in 1994, and Catherine gave birth to her daughter Hannah in 1997. Since 1998, she and her family have been living in Leura, New South Wales.