William Owen Steele (December 22, 1917 – June 25, 1979) was an American author from Tennessee.

William O. Steele was born on December 22, 1917, in Franklin, Tennessee.

[3] He spent a large amount of his youth exploring the woods around his home.

Steele's book, The Perilous Road, which was published in 1958, won the Newbery Honor in 1959.

[5] Winter Danger earned the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1962.