Evan William Thornley (born 1964), is an Australian entrepreneur.

Thornley was
founding chair of Per Capita and National Secretary of the Australian Fabian
Society. He was a board member of the Brotherhood of St Laurence and the Chifley
Research Centre, was a founding director of GetUp!. He was a co-founder of
LookSmart Ltd - the first Australian high tech company listed on NASDAQ. He is also
a co-founder of the Goodstart Consortium - a social enterprise that owns the
largest childcare network in the world (formerly called ABC Learning). He was
formerly the CEO of Better Place Australia and Global CEO of Better Place LLC,[1] a
now-defunct company which intended to supply electric cars and the charging or
switching stations to support them.

Thornley served in public office for two years as the Labor member of the Victorian
Legislative Council for the Southern Metropolitan Region, and as Parliamentary
Secretary to Premiers Bracks and Brumby.