Douglas Charles Richardson, born in Sacramento, California to Wayne H. Richardson and Joan Elizabeth Kercheval, is a premier professional genealogist, author, and historian based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Over a 40-year career, he has earned a reputation for a creative research approach that "solves the unsolvable." Richardson holds a B.A. in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an M.A. in History from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He formerly taught American History at Oklahoma's El Reno Junior College and Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College.

As an expert in medieval English gentry, European royalty, and American lineages from colonial to modern eras, Richardson has authored foundational reference books: Plantagenet Ancestry, Magna Carta Ancestry, and Royal Ancestry. He was a Contributing Editor for The American Genealogist and has published extensively in major journals, including The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, Heritage Quest Magazine, and Foundations. He is also a former member of the Santa Barbara and Connecticut genealogical societies.