ABOUT

In a career spanning three decades LAURENCE ANHOLT has produced more than 200 books in 30 languages, covering every age from baby board books to adult crime.

His titles have won numerous awards including the Historical Association Young Quills Award and the prestigious Nestlé Smarties Gold Award on two occasions.

For thirty years, the self-illustrated ANHOLT’S ARTISTS series about great artists and the real children who knew them have provided a springboard into a lifetime’s love of art for young children. These classic tales of Vincent van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci and many other geniuses of Western art have been adapted in many forms including ballet, opera, Braille editions for blind and partially sighted children and a full-scale stage musical in Korea. In 2024, renowned art publishers Taschen launched their new children’s list with a lavish 336 page anniversary anthology of the series called SMALL STORIES OF GREAT ARTISTS, which includes hundreds of reproductions of the artists’ work.

Anholt’s first venture into adult crime fiction THE MINDFUL DETECTIVE is a startlingly original and funny series featuring a Buddhist cop who feels too much for his own good. Set around Anholt’s home in the West of England, The Mindful Detective series has been described as ‘Broadchurch meets Inside No 9’ and has generated TV interest from the likes of World Productions, ZDF and BritBox.

His Young Adult novel THE HYPNOTIST was published by Penguin Random House in 2016 to great acclaim. A tale of prejudice and tolerance set in the Deep South of America in 1963, The Hypnotist was described by the Guardian as ‘Filled with suspense and heartbreak.’ The Hypnotist was officially endorsed by Amnesty International who called it ‘a passionate, important novel.’ The book was the overall winner of the Historical Association Young Quills Award 2017, nominated for the Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for 6 major fiction awards.

Anholt’s children’s books such as the SERIOUSLY SILLY STORIES and numerous picture books illustrated by his wife, the artist Catherine Anholt have sold many millions of copies around the world. Laurence was included in the Independent on Sunday’s Top 10 Children’s Authors in the UK and was amongst the 200 Most Borrowed Authors from UK libraries across all genres for more than a decade.

Born in 1959 to an Anglo-Dutch family with Persian roots, Laurence spent his early years in Holland where he developed a lasting love of Art, culminating in a BA Honours Degree in Fine Art from Falmouth School of Art, and a Master’s Degree from the Royal Academy in London.

Laurence has been married for 40 years to the artist Catherine Anholt who illustrated many of their early picture books. Catherine is a successful painter in her own right, with regular shows in London and Seoul.

In 2023, the Anholts tragically lost their 35-year-old daughter Maddy to cancer. Laurence wrote about the experience here. Their older daughter, Claire works for the United Nations and their son Tom Anholt is one of the leading young artists in Berlin. The Anholts also have four grandchildren.

Laurence and Catherine live in an ‘upside down’ eco-house, surrounded by wildflower meadows overlooking the sea. Laurence’s passions are family, art, bees, books and Buddhism.

Connect on X/Twitter @LaurenceAnholt or on Instagram @laurenceanholtauthor