David Oliver Relin is the co-author of the New York Times bestelling book, Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time is a book by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin published by Penguin in 2006. For four years, the book remained on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller's list...

, published in 2006. Relin co-wrote the book with Greg Mortenson

Greg Mortenson

Greg Mortenson, SPk is an American humanitarian, professional speaker, writer, and former mountaineer. He is the co-founder and executive director of the non-profit Central Asia Institute as well as the founder of the educational charity Pennies for Peace...

 as Mortenson told the story of his transition from a registered nurse and mountain-climber to a humanitarian committed to reducing poverty and promoting education for girls in Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 and Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

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In addition to Three Cups of Tea, Relin is a contributing editor for Parade

Parade (magazine)

Parade is an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 500 newspapers in the United States. It was founded in 1941 and is owned by Advance Publications. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., Parade has a circulation of 32.2 million and a readership of nearly 70...

and Skiing magazines. He has won more than forty national awards for his work as a writer and editor including the coveted Kiriyama Prize

Kiriyama Prize

The Kiriyama Prize is an international literary award given to books which will encourage greater understanding of and among the peoples and nations of the Pacific Rim and South Asia...

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Personal and professional life

Relin is a graduate of Vassar College

Vassar College

Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...

 After being awarded a Michener Fellowship to support a 1992 bicycle trip through Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 in 1992, he spent two years in Hue writing about the country opening itself up to the world economically and educationally. Relin has traveled to and reported from numerous countries in East Asia.

A significant portion of Relin's writing has focused on social issues the effects thereof on children. Along with being a contributing editor for Parade Magazine and Skiing Magazine, Relin has been a senior news editor for React

REACT

REACT or React may refer to:* Reaction * Rapid Execution and Combat Targeting System - current U.S. nuclear command and control system for ICBMs...

, another newsmagazine publication of Parade. Relin has also written investigative feature articles on school shootings, ecstasy abuse, and teenagers in prison for Teen People. His articles for Teen People enabled that publication to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence.

Relin currently resides in Portland, Oregon.