Tanyo Ravicz was born in Mexico City and grew up in Los Angeles, the son of anthropologists. He graduated from Harvard University in 1984. After living on the East Coast and in Europe, he settled for many years in Alaska. He homesteaded land on Kodiak Island's north coast and often returns there. He resides in California.

Over the years Tanyo Ravicz has found work as a wildland firefighter, property manager, cannery hand, day laborer and schoolteacher. His essays and stories appear in a range of online and print magazines.

His first novel, A Man of His Village, awarded ForeWord Magazine’s Gold Award in Literary Fiction and the Eric Hoffer Prize in General Fiction, was followed by a selection of his published stories, Alaskans. He is the author of the short novel Ring of Fire and of the comic epic “Hail to the Chief,” a Digital Single issued by Denali Press.

Tanyo Ravicz's latest book, the nonfiction Land of Bear and Eagle: A Home in the Kodiak Wilderness (Hancock House Publishers), was named an Anchorage Daily News top pick for 2023.

Currently, the author is juggling revisions of three book-length manuscripts.