Born in 1965 in Kabul, Afghanistan, Khaled Hosseini moved to the US in 1980 after his family was granted political asylum.

Hosseini attended Santa Clara University, obtaining a degree in Biology in 1988. He continued at California-San Diego's School of Medicine, earning a Medical Degree in 1993. While completing his residency and internship, Hosseini began writing his debut novel, The Kite Runner, which was published in 2003 and became an international hit. In 2007, he published his second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, which also became a worldwide bestseller.