Jane Dunn is a British author. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
She was born Jane Thesen, daughter of David and Ellinor Thesen, in Durban, South Africa. She is great-great-grand-daughter of both John Bennie (first Xhosa linguist, and co-founder of Lovedale Mission School) and Charles Wilhelm Thesen. She grew up in Wiltshire, the eldest of eight children.
Dunn received a BA (Hons) in Philosophy from University College London.
Her first job was in the editorial department of Vogue magazine.
She was married to the publisher Philip Dunn (1946-2007), with two children, Benjamin and Lily. She is now married to the linguist and author Nicholas Ostler and has lived in Hungerford since 2015.