The gameshow maestro and bestselling novelist on AJ Tracey’s rhymes, the newfound joys of Radio 3, and longing for the return of live comedy
Richard Osman was born in 1970 and grew up in Haywards Heath, West Sussex. He started his career as an executive producer on TV shows such as Deal Or No Deal and 8 Out of 10 Cats. He pitched the gameshow Pointless to the BBC in 2009 and has now been the show’s cohost for 12 years, alongside his university friend Alexander Armstrong. Last year Osman’s novel The Thursday Murder Club (Penguin) became the first debut to take the Christmas No 1 slot in the UK books charts. It has now sold more than 1m copies and Steven Spielberg has bought the film rights. This week, Osman was named Author of the Year at the British Book Awards and his book came out in paperback.
