Peter Gillman was born in Bromley, Kent, in 1942. He attended Hawes Down school, Dulwich College (1953-61), and University College Oxford (1961-64). He was editor of Isis magazine at Oxford. He became a journalist on leaving Oxford and was soon writing for the Sunday Times, first as a freelance, then on the staff, where he spent five years on the newspaper's Insight team. He became a freelance journalist in 1983 and has written for most British newspapers since. He has also written or co-authored a number of books, including Eiger Direct (with Dougal Haston) (published 1966); The Plumbat Affair (with Paul Eddy and Elaine Davenport) (1978); The Falklands War (with Paul Eddy and Magnus Linklater) (1982); Collar the Lot, co-authored with his wife Leni Gillman (1980); Alias David Bowie, with Leni Gillman (1986); The Duty Men (1987); In Balance: 20 years of mountaineering journalism (1989); Everest: the best writing and pictures (1993); The Wildest Dream (biography of mountaineer George Mallory) with Leni Gillman (2000) - winner of Boardman Tasker prize for mountain writing; Everest: 80 years of triumph and tragedy (2001). He has a specialism in mountain writing and has won a record six annual awards from the Outdoor Writers Guild. He has worked in television and cinema and also works as a trainer in journalism and writing. See website www.peterleni.com