Ravindra Singh Bisht is an Indian archaeologist, known for his scholarship on Indus valley civilization and efforts to conserve Indian national monuments. He was honoured by the Government of India, in 2013, by bestowing on him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the field of archaeology. He was born on 2 January 1944 in Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. After schooling at local schools, he passed the degree of Visharad in 1958, followed by Sahityaratna, in 1960, becoming a Sanskrit scholar. Changing the course of his studies, Bisht secured his Masters degree from the Lucknow University, in Ancient Indian History and Culture, in 1965. This was followed by post graduate diploma in Archaeology (PGDA), in 1967, from the School of Archaeology, run by the Archaeological Survey of India. In 2002, Ravindra Singh Bisht obtained his doctoral degree for his thesis, Emerging Perspectives of the Harrapan Civilizations in the Light of Recent Excavations at Banawali and Dholavira, from Kumaon University, to complete his academic studies.

Dr. Bisht started his career, joining the Department of Archaeology and Museum, Punjab, as the Senior Technical Assistant, in 1969. Later, he was transferred to the Department of Archaeology and Museum in Haryana as the AAO and rose to the post of the Deputy Director. He also had stints as the Superintending Archaeologist at various archaeological stations of the Archaeological Survey of India. Dr. Ravindra Singh Bisht retired after 35 years of service, as the Joint Director General, Archaeological Survey of India, on 31 January 2004 and lives at Rajendranagar, in the residential locality of Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, bordering the Indian capital of New Delhi.