James Hogg

James Hogg is one of Europe’s most prolific celebrity ghostwriters and biographers, having devised and written no fewer than thirty titles, including two #1 Sunday Times bestsellers and multiple top ten. Now also working as an event host and public speaker, he is delighted to be able to share some of the insights and experiences he has gathered from working with some of the biggest names in sport and entertainment. 

Despite having left school at the age of 15 and with no qualifications, James has carved out an incredible career. Initially working in London’s West End and then in media sales, he eventually became Head of Commercial Sales at Headingley Cricket Ground. While there, he penned his first two biographies: Little Ern! – The Authorised Biography of Ernie Wise, and What’s the Bleeding Time?, which discloses the life of the actor James Robertson Justice and features a foreword by H.R.H. The. Duke of Edinburgh. 

His first collaboration as a ghostwriter was with the European, Olympic and World Champion ice skaters, Torvill and Dean, whom he helped to write a collective autobiography entitled Our Life on Ice, which became a bestseller in over a dozen countries. He then approached the actor, Brian Blessed, about the possibility of collaborating on a memoir, bringing to the fore Brian’s unique personality and skills as a raconteur. The result, Absolute Pandemonium, became one of the biggest-selling non-fiction titles of the year and spawned a sequel called The Panther in My Kitchen. In the last seven years alone, James has worked on no fewer than twenty titles, from Bernard Who? – the autobiography of the late national treasure, Bernard Cribbins, to the F1 bestseller, Lights Out, Full Throttle, with Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert. The latter being one of five books James has penned that have been shortlisted at the Charles Tyrwhitt (formerly Daily Telegraph) Sports Book of the Year Awards. 

Since the end of 2021, James has been working closely with the former Formula 1 Team Principal and star of the hit Netflix series, Drive to Survive, Guenther Steiner. Together they have written two international bestselling books (the first of which, Surviving to Drive, is the biggest selling Formula 1 book of all time globally) and are currently embarking on a 92 date world tour with a show written by James and based on their second book, Unfiltered, that will take them to no fewer than thirteen countries. Just before working with Guenther, James spent a year with the late actor, Timothy West, on a touching memoir detailing his incredible 60-year marriage to the actress, Prunella Scales, entitled Pru & Me.

Now also working as a keynote speaker and event host, James Hogg delivers a unique blend of humour and behind-the-scenes insights from his manifold experiences collaborating with some of our biggest and best-loved personalities.