The son of an English professor, Philbrick was born in 1956 in Boston. He grew up in nearby Pittsburgh before relocating as an adult to the island of Nantucket. Philbrick attended the prestigious Brown University as an undergraduate before receiving a master’s degree in American literature from Duke University.

Philbrick’s move to Nantucket steered his career in a very particular direction. Interested in sailing from a young age, he has dedicated his literary career almost completely to books about sailing, boats, and life on or by the ocean. Upon moving to Nantucket, Philbrick became an expert on the island’s history, writing his first book on the subject in 1993, Away Off Shore: Nantucket Island and Its People. His works on Nantucket and its history culminated in In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex in 1999. Philbrick continues to write and publish, his latest works focusing on the figures involved in the founding of the United States of America.

As the captain of the Essex, Pollard is one of the twin poles around which the narrative of the story revolves. Having been married only two months and newly commissioned as a captain, Pollard set off on the Essex bearing a tremendous amount of responsibility.