Sharma is a Canadian author of Indian origin who wrote The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari and other self-help and spirituality books geared toward readers in business professions, including Who Will Cry When You Die? and The Saint, The Surfer, and the CEO. He graduated from the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Formerly a lawyer, he became a full-time author and public speaker in 1997 after the publication of his second book, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. Sharma has been invited by companies like Microsoft and FedEx to provide training and has given speeches at universities like Harvard and Yale. Sharma’s own life mirrors Julian’s in The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari to the extent that both men give up a promising legal career to pursue their calling.

John is Julian’s junior colleague at the law firm and the narrator of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. The book is written from his perspective. He is tapped by Julian to assist on a big murder trial despite his relative inexperience and forms a bond with Julian after staying on at the firm. When Julian returns from his Indian expedition, he visits John’s home and shares his newfound wisdom with John.