Joe Craig - Biography

Biography

Craig was born and grew up in North London, where he attended University College School. He went on to study philosophy at Emmanuel College, Cambridge where he wrote and composed music for the Cambridge Footlights. In his final year at university he was head-hunted by Shell Oil but in the same week was offered a job composing a musical for the London stage. He turned down Shell to pursue a career in music, composing scores for theatre and TV productions.

In 2002 he provided the score for Told You So, a musical adaptation of Aesop's fables, with book and lyrics by John Finnemore, but in 2003 he moved away from the theatre to write pop material and to perform as a singer-songwriter and jazz musician, after having a heart attack from the stress of working with lots of actors at once.

In the same year he started work on his first novel, a thriller for children and young adults, and in 2004 he signed a two-book deal with HarperCollins Children's Books. His first book was one of the biggest selling children's book debuts of 2005 in the UK.

In 2008, he married broadcaster Mary Ann Ochota.