William Peskett was born in 1952 and educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and Christ's College, Cambridge, where he read zoology. After university, he taught biology at a school in Suffolk. He then became a researcher, writer and editor on Which? Magazine. Following this he set up his own design, editorial and communications company, but moved on to Diageo drinks company, from which he retired in 2010. He now lives in Pattaya, Thailand with his wife.