Ben Aaronovitch

1 universe Last reviewed 2026-08-11

Ben Dylan Aaronovitch was born February 22, 1964, in Camden, London, the son of economist Sam Aaronovitch, a senior member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, and younger brother to actor Owen Aaronovitch and journalist David Aaronovitch. After leaving school without pursuing university, he worked various jobs, including as a security guard and a bookstore employee at Waterstones, and began his writing career by submitting scripts to the BBC. He wrote two Doctor Who television serials, Remembrance of the Daleks (1988) and Battlefield (1989), along with spin-off novels and audio dramas, and also contributed to Blake's 7 and Casualty. His breakthrough came with the Rivers of London series, beginning in 2011, an urban fantasy sequence about a London police officer who discovers he can perform magic; its rapid success allowed him to write full-time. The series has continued with novels including Moon Over Soho and Whispers Under Ground, plus graphic novel adaptations. In 2020 he founded the Future Worlds Prize to support diverse science fiction and fantasy authors. He lives in Wimbledon, London, and is married to Marie Fofana.