Ken Taylor, BA, MBA (born October 5, 1934 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) was a Canadian ambassador to Iran. He helped six Americans escape from Iran during the hostage crisis in 1979 by issuing them Canadian passports to fool the Iranians into believing they were Canadians.
The Iranians invaded the United States embassy on November 4, 1979, after they suspected the US government of aiding the Shah. During the riot the six Americans managed to escape. They then hid for four days before reaching the Canadian embassy where they met Taylor who devised the plan to get them out of Iran safely. The other hostages were released on the last day of U.S. President Jimmy Carter's term in office, in January 1981.