R. Balakrishnan is a retired civil servant, author, researcher, poet and has written several books in Tamil. He was a former Indian Administrative Service officer.

Currently he is appointed as the Chairman of the International Institute of Tamil Studies , Chennai. R. Balakrishnan was born in Natham (Dindigul district). He studied B.A. and M.A. Tamil Literature in Madurai. He worked as Sub-Editor in Dinamani Daily Newspaper, Madurai Edition from 1980 to 1984 July.

Till date he is the only person who has this credentials (i.e., B.A. and M.A. in Tamil literature and civil services in Tamil). He belongs to the 1984 batch.