John Harvey was born in London, England on December 21, 1938. After studying at Goldsmiths' College, University of London, and at Hatfield Polytechnic, he received a master's degree in American studies at the University of Nottingham, where he briefly taught film and American literature. He taught English and drama in secondary schools for 12 years. He has been a full-time author since 1975. He has written more than 100 books including The Charlie Resnick Mystery series. He has received several awards including the Grand Prix du Roman Noir Etranger in 2000 for Cold Light, the British Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger and the Barry Award in 2004 for Flesh and Blood, the Prix du Polar… European in 2007 for Ash and Bone, the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for Sustained Excellence in Crime Writing in 2007, and the CWA Short Story Dagger in 2014 for Fedora. He has also published several poetry collections including Ghosts of a Chance, Bluer Than This, and New and Selected Poems, Out of Silence. He has written for television and radio. Between 1977 and 1999, he edited Slow Dancer magazine and ran Slow Dancer.