Mike Francis served in multiple capacities for the Oregonian starting in 1989, including as business columnist, technology editor, and military reporter. He was embedded with Oregon National Guard troops in Iraq for more than three months in 2004 and 2005. He also maintained the Oregonian 's Oregon at War blog.

Before joining the Oregonian , Francis was the editor of the Business Journal of Portland and also worked at the Bulletin in Bend, Oregon. He also worked as managing editor for StatiaFX, manager of intellectual capital for Ziba Design, and was on the team of cofounders of Swan Island Networks. He was born in the U.K., attended high school in the St. Louis area, graduated from Northwestern University, and lived in Southwest Portland with his wife and two daughters.