Carsten Jensen (born 24 July 1952) is a Danish author and political columnist. He first earned recognition as a literary critic for the Copenhagen daily, Politiken. His books, including I Have Seen the World Begin (1996), deal with knowledge of the world. For this novel he won the Danish booksellers award De Gyldne Laurbær (The Golden Laurel) in 1996. The year 2006 saw the publication of his novel Vi, de druknede (We, the Drowned), a chronicle about the birth of modern Denmark, seen through the history of his hometown Marstal.

In 2015, Den første sten (The First Stone) appeared, a monumental novel about the experiences of a group of Danish soldiers who have volunteered for service in Afghanistan. Through their eyes, we are presented with a wide and disturbing panorama of the war in Afghanistan. As of March 2018, the novel has been translated into German, Der erste Stein, as well as into Norwegian and Swedish. The English translation was released on 1 September 2019.

He is married to English novelist Liz Jensen. His stepson was actor Raphaël Coleman.

In 2009, he was awarded the Olof Palme Prize. In 2012, he was awarded the Søren Gyldendal Prize.