Philipp Pullman was born in Norwich, England in 1946, but he spent his childhood in Australia and Zimbabwe. Back to Europe, he went to Oxford University, where he began to write. His fauvourite author was John Cowper Powys, and he has read several times Grimm's Fairy Tales. He is the author of many books for young reader and two novels for adults.

His best-known trilogy of fantasy appealing young readers is His Dark Materials, with Lira, Will, Coulter, Lord Asriel, Dr. Mary malone and Iorek Birnison, and composed by The Golden Compass, The Subte Knife and The Amber Spyglass. This trilogy has been compared to Tolkien's work.

He has been awarded with Carnegie Medal for The Golden Compass, 1997 Parents' Choice Gold Medal Book Award, American Bookseller Pick of the Lists, Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, Booklist Editors' Choice and Book Links Best Children's Book of 1997 for The Subtle Knife. He also wrote The Sally Lockhart Trilogy comprising of The Ruby in the Smoke (Book 1), The Shadow in the North (Book 2) and The Tiger in the Well (Book 3).