Eoin Colfer was born in Wexford, on the south east coast of Ireland, in 1965.
He studied in Dublin, returning to Wexford to teach primary school children. He spent four years in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Italy, and wrote a children's book, Benny and Omar (1998), drawing on these experiences. Its sequel, Benny and Babe, was published in 1999 and shortlisted for the 2000 Bisto Book of the Year Award. He then wrote a further children's novel, The Wish List, and a series of books for children aged 6-8 years: Going Potty (1999); Ed's Funny Feet (2000); and Ed's Bed (2001).
He used his love of Irish history and legend in the writing of Artemis Fowl (2001), its eponymous hero being a 12 year old criminal mastermind from North Dublin who holds a leprechaun to ransom. This book was followed by two others in the series: Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident (2002); and Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code (2003). The fourth and fifth books in the Artemis series are Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception (2005), and Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony (2006).
Growing up, he was one of five brothers. When he wrote Artemis Fowl, he made them into goblins.
He advises anyone who wants to become a writer to become an observer. "That is where your ideas come from. Keep one eye on your computer screen and the other on the world around you."
Over a period of four years, he was a teacher in Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Italy.
The Artemis Fowl series has since sold over 20 million copies worldwide and is now concluding with the final book, The Last Guardian.
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