John Salter was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. He grew up in eight states and on the Navajo Nation. He attended the University of North Dakota, where he served as co-editor of the literary journal North Country. He earned a graduate degree in Creative Writing.

Salter has worked many jobs, including clerking in convenience stores, directing a California Indian Education Center, handling hazardous waste, serving as a Relief Postmaster, and teaching English at five different colleges.

Salter is the author of a novel, A Trout in the Sea of Cortez, and two story collections, Alberta Clipper and There Will Never Be Another Night Like This. Alberta Clipper was a finalist for the 2003 Binghamton University John Gardner Fiction Book Award. His short fiction has appeared in many literary journals, including Massachusetts Review, Chattahoochee Review, Third Coast, Pearl, Chiron Review, The MacGuffin, Florida Review, Parting Gifts, Nebraska Review, Vestal Review, New World Writing Quarterly, Citron Review, Brilliant Flash Fiction, and North Dakota Quarterly.

Salter is a two-time winner of the Loft Award in Creative Prose/McKnight Artist Fellowship, through competitions judged by Dorothy Allison and Jane Hamilton. He is also the recipient of a Bush Artist Fellowship, through a competition judged by Rick Bass, and a residency from the Corporation of Yaddo. He lives in Fargo, North Dakota.