William Wycherley (April 1641 – 1 January 1716) was an English Army officer and playwright best known for writing the plays The Country Wife and The Plain Dealer.

Wycherley was born at Clive near Shrewsbury, Shropshire,[1] at a house called Clive Hall,[2] although his birthplace has also been said (by Lionel Cust) to be Trench Farm to the north near Wem , later the birthplace of another writer, John Ireland, who was said to have been adopted by Wycherley's widow following the death of Ireland's parents.

He returned to England shortly before the restoration of King Charles II and lived at The Queen's College, Oxford, where Thomas Barlow was provost.

[1] Wycherley left Oxford and took up residence at the Inner Temple, which he initially entered in October 1659, but he gave little attention to studying law and ceased to live there after 1670.

[4] Wycherley was commissioned on 19 June 1672 during the Third Anglo-Dutch War as a captain lieutenant in a company of the English Army's 4th (The Holland) Regiment raised by the Duke of Buckingham.

His time in the Army was plagued by difficulties obtaining pay and supplies for his troops, some of whom after his departure complained of "ill-usage" at Wycherley's hands.

The title character is Captain Manly, a sailor who doubts the motives of everyone he meets except for his sweetheart, Olivia, and his friend, Vernish.

Wycherley had no title or wealth, but by 1675 he had been admitted to the inner court circle, sharing the conversation and sometimes the mistresses of King Charles II, who "was extremely fond of him upon account of his wit".

However, the title to her property was disputed and the costs of the litigation were so heavy that Wycherley's father was either unable or unwilling to financially aid him.

[1] Wycherley was said to have married in order to spite his nephew, the next in succession, knowing that he would shortly die and that the jointure would impoverish the estate.