Jim Lynch grew up near Seattle, Washington, where his father moved for its sailing waters. He studied English and creative writing at the University of Washington and went on to work for newspapers in Alaska and Washington, D.C., as well as The Spokesman-Review, The Seattle Times and The Oregonian. He wrote his first novel, The Highest Tide, while on a six-month sabbatical from The Oregonian, inspired by the discovery of a rare, deep-sea ragfish on the beach near his home outside Olympia, Washington. The book was sold to Bloomsbury before it was completed, and Lynch resigned from the paper two days later. The Highest Tide received a Pacific Northwest Bookseller Award in 2006.

Lynch's second novel, Border Songs was inspired by his journalism about border security and marijuana smuggling. His research for the book included riding with The Border Patrol as they intercepted loads of marijuana from British Columbia, bound for major cities in the Western United States.