Sullivan was born and raised in Medfield, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. He earned a BA in English from Hamilton College in 1980. After graduating, he served as a volunteer in the Peace Corps, teaching English to children of Tuareg nomads in the Saraha Desert. Living in such an extreme environment and immersing himself in an unfamiliar culture had a profound influence on Sullivan‘s later passion for researching his subjects.

Returning to the United States in 1982, Sullivan attended the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Chicago. He worked at Reuters, Ltd., as a financial correspondent covering the Chicago Commodities Markets from 1983-1984. He left to become a political reporter in Washington D.C., at a small wire service called States News Service, where his role was backup reporter to the D.C. bureaus of the New York Times, Newsday and the New York Daily News. He also began to make a name for himself in the world of investigative reporting, breaking a series of stories about a financial scandal that almost toppled the nation's mortgage brokerage business.

In 1986, Sullivan joined the San Diego Tribune as a full-time investigative reporter, where he began to develop a journalistic style that focused on the cultures of the subjects he was investigating. His award-winning work included a series that examined the culture of children living with addicts, and another that drew back the curtain on the culture of corporate funeral home conglomerates.

Long interested in writing novels, Sullivan began writing fiction in his little spare time at the age of 30, and soon had short stories published in various literary journals. In 1990, he took a leave from his investigative duties at the San Diego Tribune and moved to Utah and Wyoming to live among extreme skiers. That experience yielded his first novel, The Fall Line (1994), which was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, a rare honor for a debut author.

The following year, he published Hard News (1995), a mystery that exposed the underbelly of modern newspapers. The book garnered widespread critical acclaim and has become a cult classic among journalists.

Sullivan’s career broke out in 1996 with the publication of The Purification Ceremony. The novel, written in the voice of a woman who is an expert tracker, has appeared on bestsellers’ lists worldwide. It was a finalist for the Edgar Award for best novel, won the W.H. Smith Award for best “new talent” author, and was named one of the best books of the year by the Los Angeles Times. The Purification Ceremony has been translated into 14 languages and was optioned numerous times for film, although none has been made.

Sullivan published Ghost Dance in 1999 again to widespread praise and commercial success, especially in Europe, where he has a large fan base.

Labyrinth (2001) marked another turning point for Sullivan’s career. A thriller set in the world of endurance cavers, Labyrinth was bought for film by Scott Rudin and Paramount Pictures, even before the literary rights sold. The book was an international hit and expanded the number of countries and languages where Sullivan’s novels have been published.

In 2003, Sullivan’s sixth novel, The Serpent’s Kiss, was published. Set in the world of Appalachian snake handling, it was named one of the best mysteries of the year by BookSense 76, and became a run-away hit in German-language countries, where it remained on bestsellers’ lists for almost 12 months.

Triple Cross, Sullivan’s newest novel, deals with an attack on a ski resort for the super-rich and powerful. It has already been published under the title Limit in Germany, where it is a bestseller. St. Martin’s Press plans to launch the U.S. edition of the novel in April, 2009.

Sullivan’s next novel, set in the world of professional thieves, the CIA and international crime lords, is tentatively entitled The Eighteenth Rule.

Sullivan lives in southwest Montana with his wife two teenage sons. An avid skier, sportsman, martial artist and devotee of CrossFit training, Sullivan is also an entrepreneur with a start-up company that builds green eco-roads as an alternative to asphalt.