J. K. Rowling penned Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher 's Stone is the first novel in the Harry Potter series and J. K. Rowling 's debut novel , first published in 1997 by Bloomsbury . Joanne Rowling , ( [ ˈrəʊlɪŋ ] born 31 July 1965 ) , pen names J. K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith , is a British novelist , screenwriter and film producer best known as the author of the Harry Potter fantasy series . The seven-year period that followed saw the death of her mother , birth of her first child , divorce from her first husband and relative poverty until she finished the first novel in the series , Harry Potter and the Philosopher 's Stone , in 1997 .