Kenneth Douglas "Ken" Taylor (October 5, 1934 – October 15, 2015) was a Canadian diplomat, educator and businessman, best known for his role in the 1979
covert operation called the "
Canadian Caper" when he was the
Canadian ambassador to Iran. With the cooperation of the American
Central Intelligence Agency, Taylor helped six Americans escape from
Iran during the
Iran hostage crisis by procuring
Canadian passports for the Americans to deceive the Iranian Revolutionary guard, posing as a Canadian film crew scouting locations. Before the escape, the six Americans spent several weeks hiding in the homes of Taylor and another Canadian diplomat, John Sheardown.