David Wallechinsky (born 5 February 1948) is an Olympic historian, who has worked as a commentator for NBC Olympic coverage and is the author of many Olympic reference books and other reference books. He is the author of The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics and The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics series. He is also known for his work on The People's Almanac and The Book of Lists series. He splits his time between Santa Monica and the south of France.

He is the son of Irving Wallace. He was doing genealogical research on the family, and discovered that the family's original last name was "Wallechinsky". It had been anglicized to "Wallace" by an immigration clerk. He was so angered at this, he had his name legally changed to "David Wallechinsky."

He has compiled the list of "The World’s 10 Worst Dictators" for Parade magazine for the last several years.

1948 births | Living people | History of sports | Olympics | Historians | Writers