Richard Dixon was born in Coventry, in 1956. He was educated at King Henry VIII School and Lanchester Polytechnic, where he graduated in Business Law. He practised as a barrister in London for ten years before moving to Italy in 1989, where he now lives.
He is an English translator of Italian literature. He translated the last works of Umberto Eco, including his novels The Prague Cemetery, shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2012, and Numero Zero, commended by the judges of the John Florio Prize, 2016. He has also translated works by Giacomo Leopardi, Roberto Calasso and Antonio Moresco.