Twenty-two people were killed when Salman Abedi detonated a suicide bomb after a pop concert on 22 May.
Lord Kerslake, the ex-head of the civil service, said those affected would have insights "that won't necessarily be available to the emergency services".
An interim report should be complete by Christmas, he added.
Speaking to Radio 5 live, he said the review - on behalf of Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham - would not look into whether the attack after an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena could have been prevented.
"That's a separate thing... we are focusing very much on the preparedness of Greater Manchester for such attacks and their response in the period, the week-and-a-half or so in which they had to respond.
"The issue of whether it could have been prevented is a different review process."
He said he would be "very surprised" if his recommendations were not acted upon.
"There were thousands who were affected in some way by this terrible, terrible event. I see that as a key part of role as chair to make sure that their voices are heard as part of this review.
"They will have insights and ideas that won't necessarily be available to the emergency services, good though they are."
He added that he was "very confident" he would get access to information from the security services.
"This is a very well-established process: everybody recognises that you get much better results if you're open and honest about the lessons learned."
Information will also be collected from reviews conducted by each of the emergency services, he added.
"I'm sure there will be a lot of good things that will come out, but also the things that could have been done better."
The review into the response to the Manchester attack will "give voice" to the victims' families, its chair Lord Kerslake has said.