Barry O'Brien (born 1957) is an American television writer and producer best known as the co-creator of Disney Channel Original Series Hannah Montana.
His credits include Happy Days, Perfect Strangers, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Judging Amy, and CSI: Miami.
He attended Terra Linda High School, before joining Santa Clara University on a football scholarship, studying business and finance.
[1] O’Brien’s biggest hit is Disney’s Hannah Montana, a concept he successfully pitched based on the premise of an incredibly famous teenager-with-a-double-life, an idea conceived during a tenure on Nickelodeon’s television series All That, where the (then) teenage American pop singer Britney Spears featured as a guest.
[2] Aside from writing for television, O’Brien co-wrote Jerry Bruckheimer’s Kangaroo Jack,[3] and two junior novels.