Chris Maclean is a Wellington historian, writer, photographer and publisher, with a keen interest in the outdoors. He started tramping as a teenager in the 1960s, when a trip to the top of Ngauruhoe kindled an enduring enthusiasm that has underpinned a career as a writer and publisher. His tramping-related books include Tararua: The story of a mountain range (1994), John Pascoe  (2003), Stag Spooner: Wild Man from the Bush  (2012) and Tramping: A New Zealand History (2014).

Chris divides his time between Wellington and Waikanae, both places that have been the subjects of books: Kapiti, which won the Montana Book Award for History in 2000, Wellington: Telling Tales  (2005) and Waikanae  (2010).

Chris is the great-grandson of George Whitcombe, founder of Whitcombe & Tombs, and keeps the family tradition alive through his own publishing imprint, The Whitcombe Press. His latest book, A Way With Words, recalls the challenges and rewards of writing and publishing a dozen titles during the past four decades.