Peter Wilfred James (1930–2014) was an English botanist and lichenologist. He was a pioneer in the study of lichens as "environmental indicators, especially in atmospheric pollution". Peter W. James grew up in Sutton Coldfield, which was then a rural suburb of Birmingham. He graduated with a B.Sc. in botany from the University of Liverpool. There he enrolled as a Ph.D. student with the intention of studying lichenology, but never completed his doctorate. In 1955 he started work as a lichen specialist at London's Natural History Museum. He spent his career there, became a deputy Keeper of Botany, and retired in 1990. In 1958 he was one of the founders of the British Lichen Society. From 1958 to 1977 he was the editor of the British Lichen Society's journal The Lichenologist.