Richard Osman OBE
Osman in 2022
Born	(1970-11-28)28 November 1970 (age 55) Billericay,Essex, England
Education	Warden Park School
Alma mater	University of Cambridge (BA)
Occupations	Television producer Television presenter Novelist
Years active	1993–present
Known for	Pointless Two Tribes Insert Name Here The Fake News Show Richard Osman's House of Games
Notable work	Thursday Murder Club
Height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Spouse	Ingrid Oliver ​ (m. 2022)​
Children	2
Relatives	Mat Osman (brother)

Richard Osman (born 28 November 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, and novelist. He is the creator and former co-presenter of theBBC One television quiz showPointless. He has presented theBBC Two quiz showsTwo Tribes andRichard Osman's House of Games, and been a team captain on the comedypanel showsInsert Name Here andThe Fake News Show. He has also made appearances on British comedy panel shows includingWould I Lie to You?,QI andTaskmaster.

Osman worked atHat Trick Productions before becomingcreative director of the television production companyEndemol UK, producing shows includingPrize Island forITV andDeal or No Deal forChannel 4. He is the author of the best-sellingThursday Murder Club mystery novels.

Osman was born on 28 November 1970,^[1][2] inBillericay,Essex,^[3] to Brenda Wright and David Osman. When he was nine years old, his father walked out on the family, which Osman says created difficulty for the rest of his life. His mother attendedteacher training college and found making money to support her family a struggle.^[4] His older brother is the musicianMat Osman, bass guitarist of the rock bandSuede.^[5] The boys grew up inHaywards Heath,West Sussex.^[4]

Osman attendedYardley Court^{[citation needed]} andWarden Park School inCuckfield.^[6] While still at school, he gained his first broadcasting experience, as a regular contributor toTurn It Up, an open-access music show which went out on Sunday evenings onBBC Radio Sussex.^{[citation needed]}

From 1989 to 1992, he studiedPolitics andSociology at theUniversity of Cambridge where he was an undergraduate student atTrinity College, Cambridge, and a contemporary of futurePointless co-presenterAlexander Armstrong.^[7][8]

Osman's career has been intelevision production,television presenting and as anovelist.

Osman worked asexecutive producer on British game shows, includingChannel 4 comedy panel game8 Out of 10 Cats and satirical comedy10 O'Clock Live. He was the creative director at TV company Endemol UK, pitching the idea forPointless to the BBC, becoming its co-presenter with his former university friendAlexander Armstrong, when it launched in 2009.

Osman created the short-lived 2013 ITV gameshowPrize Island.^[9] His other credits includeWhose Line Is It Anyway?,Total Wipeout and the game show24 Hour Quiz.

Osman acted asscript editor for BBC One'sTotal Wipeout. In 1999, he created and wrote the Channel 4 sitcomBoyz Unlimited withDavid Walliams andMatt Lucas. In 2005, he co-created and co-wrote the animated Channel 4 sitcomBromwell High.^[10][11][12]

Osman left Endemol in 2020.^[13]

From 2009 until 2022, Osman co-presented theBBC One teatime quiz showPointless with hostAlexander Armstrong. He created the show where he is jokingly known as Armstrong's "pointless friend". Having previously worked exclusively in behind-the-camera roles, Osman got the job as co-presenter/assistant when he pitched the idea for the show to a panel of BBC daytime heads, taking the role of the assistant in the demonstration.^[14][15]

Osman guest hostedHave I Got News for You in October 2013.^[15][16] In 2014, he began presenting a newBBC Two quiz show calledTwo Tribes. A second series began airing in February 2015.^[17] From October 2014, he guest-presented episodes ofThe One Show. Beginning in 2016, he was a team captain on the BBC Two comedy panel showInsert Name Here, hosted bySue Perkins. A second series was commissioned to begin airing in January 2017.

In February and December 2016, he presentedDragons' Den: Pitches to Riches, two special episodes which looked back over the past thirteen series ofDragons' Den on BBC Two. Since 2016, Osman has presentedChild Genius onChannel 4.^[18] He appeared on the telethonRed Nose Day 2017 withThe World Cup of Biscuits 2017. This involved polling with Twitter to find the best British biscuit. In April 2017 he appeared in the first episode of the third series ofMurder in Successville.

In 2017, he began hosting his showRichard Osman's House of Games. Each weekday, four panelists compete in general knowledge tests in a variety of entertaining games. Six series of the show have been made. In 2020, Osman created a spin-off show titledHouse of Games Night, which aired on BBC One on Friday nights.

On 8 April 2022, Osman announced he would be leavingPointless, after 1,300 episodes across 30 series. After hisThursday Murder Club series received critical acclaim, he wished to spend more time as an author. He is, however, continuing to appear on the spin-offPointless Celebrities. In a statement, he said, "Pointless has been a joy from start to finish, working alongside my friend Alexander Armstrong, backed by the most wonderful team, and for the best viewers in the world. I will miss everyone so much, but I'm thrilled I'll still be presenting the celebrity shows. I can't thank everyone enough for 12 amazing years." He was replaced by a rotating series of guest presenters. His co-host Armstrong said, "Daytime television's loss is international best-selling crime fiction's gain. I say that like it's a consolation—I'm going to miss the big man next to me Monday to Friday. But at least I still get him at weekends—and weekdays if you're watching on Challenge".^[19]

In November 2023, Osman began hosting a podcast,The Rest Is Entertainment, withMarina Hyde.^[20] The success of the podcast led to the two presenters appearing live for a sold out Christmas version of the show at theRoyal Albert Hall in December 2024.^[21]

Viking Press, a subsidiary ofPenguin Random House, acquired the rights to Osman's debut novel,The Thursday Murder Club, and one other novel, for a seven-figure sum in a 10-publisher auction in 2019.^[22] Osman's debut crime novel was published on 3 September 2020.^[23]

TheThursday Murder Club series is set in a luxury retirement village inKent, where four residents with an interest in solving cold cases become involved in real murder investigations.^[24] Osman confirmed in August 2020 thatSteven Spielberg had acquired the book's film rights^[25] and the movie debuted on Netflix in August 2025.^[26] The book sold almost 700,000 UK copies in its first four months, according to publishers Penguin, and beatBarack Obama's memoirA Promised Land as the UK's Christmas best-selling book.^[27]

The first novel in the series was followed byThe Man Who Died Twice in 2021,The Bullet That Missed in 2022,^[28][29] andThe Last Devil To Die in 2023.^[30][31]The Last Devil To Die reached number one on theNew York Times Best Seller list.^[32] The fifth book in the series,The Impossible Fortune, was released in September 2025.^[33]

In September 2024, Viking published the first book in Osman's new mystery series,We Solve Murders.^[34]

As of 2025, Osman has sold over 17 million books worldwide.^[35]

Osman presentedThe Birthday Game podcast.^[36] In 2021 he featured in podcast adverts for premium ready-meal brandCharlie Bigham's.^[37]

In December 2021, Osman was the guest for BBC Radio 4'sDesert Island Discs.^[38]

On 9 June 2022, Osman was the subject of the BBC'sWho Do You Think You Are?, in which he discovered that a distant relative had been involved in a celebratedVictorian murder case.^[39][40][41]

Osman was born withnystagmus, an eye condition that significantly reduces his vision.^[47] He learns his scripts by heart as his condition makes it difficult to read anautocue.^[48] He has had afood addiction since childhood and said that he had therapy for the disorder, but believed that it would be lifelong.^[38][49]

Osman has a daughter and son, from a previous relationship.^[50][2][49] On 3 December 2022, he marriedIngrid Oliver whom he met when she was a contestant onRichard Osman's House Of Games, his children walked him down the wedding aisle accompanied to the music of anEminem song.^[50][51]

On 6 December 2011, Osman wonHeat's "Weirdest Crush Award".^[52] In 2013, he was aseason ticket holder atFulham F.C.^[53]

As of 2021^[update], Osman was living inChiswick,west London.^[54][55]

Osman is notable for his stature, being 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m) tall.^[2]

Osman was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2026 New Year Honours for services to literature and broadcasting.^[56]

• Richard Osman atIMDb

• 1970 births
• Living people
• 21st-century English novelists
• Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
• BBC television presenters
• British television show creators
• Cozy mystery writers
• Detective fiction writers
• Endemol people
• English crime fiction writers
• English mystery writers
• English game show hosts
• English television producers
• Mystery writers
• Officers of the Order of the British Empire
• People educated at Warden Park School
• People from Billericay
• People from Haywards Heath

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