Matthew Barzun is a media entrepreneur, former diplomat, and author living in Louisville, Kentucky. He currently serves as chair and publisher of London's The Observer, the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. Previously, he was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom (2013-2017) and to Sweden (2009-2011) under President Obama. After leaving Embassy London, Matthew joined former BBC News chief James Harding to start a media company dedicated to rethinking the newsroom. It purchased The Observer, dubbed "The enemy of nonsense" by columnist George Orwell, and made it an independent, standalone news organization for the first time since 1993.

He spent his early career on the team running CNET Networks in the pioneer stage of the internet publishing business, through dotcom boom, bust, and recovery. His book The Power of Giving Away Power published by Penguin/Portfolio in 2021, proposes that leadership, whether in business or government, lies in minding the conditions for making things together. Matthew serves on the boards of National Public Radio, the National Constitution Center, and the Karsh Institute of Democracy, and has served on the boards of corporations and many non-profit organizations focused on education, civics, and interfaith relations.

Matthew grew up in Lincoln, Massachusetts and resides in Louisville with his wife, Brooke, and, occasionally, their three college- and post-college-aged children. He is a graduate of Harvard College.