Joanne K. Rowling, born in 1965, had the desire to become a writer since she was a child. In 1983, she studied French and Classical Philology. During a train journey in 1990, she invented the character Harry Potter.

In 1991, Rowling moved to Portugal. During this time, she worked extensively on the first of her planned seven Harry Potter books. In 1992, she got married, but the marriage lasted only a short time. In 1993, her daughter Jessica was born.

Rowling returned to the UK. As a single mother, she initially lived on social welfare. In 1997, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" was published. Just three days later, the US publisher Scholastic unexpectedly acquired the American rights.

In 2000, Rowling sold all marketing rights, including the film rights, but retained the publishing rights as well as a say in the films. In 2001, Rowling married doctor Neil Murray, with whom she has two children.

Meanwhile, her Harry Potter novels have been translated into more than 60 languages. In 2010, the author received the first Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award in Odense, Denmark.