Dick Bolles—more formally known as Richard Nelson Bolles—is the author of What Color Is Your Parachute? A Practical Guide For Job-Hunters and Career Changers, the most popular job-hunting book in the world. The book has sold more than 10,000,000 copies to date, and is dramatically updated, reshaped and rewritten, every year. "Parachute", as it's often called, has been translated into 20 languages and is used in 26 countries. Dick is credited with founding the modern career counseling field, and is often described as the field's #1 celebrity.TIME chose What Color Is Your Parachute? as one of the 100 All-TIME best and most influential non-fiction books published since 1923. The U.S. Dept. of Labor chose What Color Is Your Parachute as one of The Books That Have Shaped the World of Work, since 1758.The Library of Congress' Center for the Book chose What Color Is Your Parachute as one of 25 books that have shaped people's lives (down through history).Forbes Magazine chose him, along with Warren Buffett, and 18 others, as one of the 20 Wealth Wizards in the U.S. for 2013.He was given the National Samaritan Award (previous honorees included Karl Menninger, Betty Ford, and Peter Drucker).LinkedIn chose him as one of LinkedIn's 500 "Influencers" or "thought leaders." He writes regularly for that platform as well as a number of others.
He has four grown children : Stephen, Sharon, Gary and Mark (deceased). He and his wife Marci live in the San Francisco East Bay Area.