Tim O'Reilly () (born June 6, 1954) is the founder of
O'Reilly Media (formerly O'Reilly & Associates) and a supporter of the
free software and
open source movements. He is widely credited with coining the term
Web 2.0.
O'Reilly was initially interested in literature upon graduating from high school, but after graduating from
Harvard College in 1975 with a B.A.
cum laude in
Classics he became involved in the field of computer
manuals. He defines his company not as a book or online publisher, or as a conference producer (though the company does all three), but as a technology transfer company, "changing the world by spreading the knowledge of innovators." O'Reilly is on the board of
CollabNet, and was on the board of
Macromedia until its 2005 merger with
Adobe Systems. In March 2007, he joined
MySQL AB’s Board of Directors.
In 2001, O'Reilly was involved in a dispute with
Amazon.com, against Amazon's
one-click patent, and specifically, Amazon's assertion of that patent against rival
barnesandnoble.com. The protest ended with O'Reilly and Amazon.com founder
Jeff Bezos visiting Washington D.C. to lobby for patent reform.
See also
