Richard Osman facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Richard Osman
Osman in 2022
Born	(1970-11-28) 28 November 1970 (age 54) Billericay, Essex, England
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge (BA)
Occupation	Comedian • 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 series
Height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Spouse(s)	Ingrid Oliver ​ (m. 2022)​
Children	2
Relatives	Mat Osman (brother)

Richard Osman (born 28 November 1970) is a well-known English television presenter, producer, novelist, and comedian. You might know him best as the creator and former co-presenter of the popular BBC One quiz show Pointless. He's also hosted other fun quiz shows like Two Tribes and Richard Osman's House of Games.

Beyond TV, Richard Osman is a very successful author. He writes the bestselling Thursday Murder Club mystery novels. These books are loved by many readers around the world.

Richard Osman's Early Life and Education

Richard Osman was born on 28 November 1970, in Billericay, Essex, England. His parents are Brenda Wright and David Osman. When he was nine, his father left the family. This was a difficult time for Richard and his family. His mother worked hard as a teacher to support them.

Richard has an older brother named Mat Osman. Mat is a musician and plays bass guitar in the rock band Suede. Richard and Mat grew up in Haywards Heath, West Sussex.

School Days and First Broadcasts

Richard went to Warden Park School in Cuckfield. Even while he was still at school, he got his first experience in broadcasting. He was a regular helper on a music show called Turn It Up. This show was on BBC Radio Sussex on Sunday evenings.

From 1989 to 1992, Richard studied Politics and Sociology at Trinity College, Cambridge. This is a famous university. While he was there, he met Alexander Armstrong, who later became his co-presenter on Pointless. Alexander studied English at the same college.

Richard Osman's Television Career

Richard Osman has had a long and successful career in television. He has worked both behind the scenes as a producer and in front of the camera as a presenter.

Working Behind the Scenes: TV Production

Before becoming a famous presenter, Richard Osman worked as an executive producer for many British game shows. An executive producer helps to manage the making of a TV show. He worked on shows like the Channel 4 comedy panel game 8 Out of 10 Cats.

He was also the creative director at a TV company called Endemol UK. This means he helped come up with new show ideas. It was Richard who first thought of the idea for Pointless and pitched it to the BBC. He ended up becoming the co-presenter with his university friend, Alexander Armstrong, when the show started in 2009.

Richard also created the ITV game show Prize Island in 2013. He worked on other shows too, like Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Total Wipeout. He even helped write some TV shows, including the Channel 4 sitcom Boyz Unlimited and the animated show Bromwell High. Richard left Endemol in 2020 to focus on other projects.

Becoming a TV Presenter: Pointless and More

From 2009 to 2022, Richard Osman was the co-presenter of the popular BBC One quiz show Pointless. He worked alongside Alexander Armstrong. Richard actually created the show. He was jokingly known as Armstrong's "pointless friend" on the show.

Richard had always worked behind the camera before Pointless. He got the presenting job because when he showed the idea for Pointless to the BBC, he took on the role of the assistant in the demonstration. They liked him so much that they asked him to do it for real!

Richard has also guest-hosted other shows, like Have I Got News for You in 2013. In 2014, he started presenting his own BBC Two quiz show called Two Tribes. He also guest-presented episodes of The One Show. From 2016, he was a team captain on the BBC Two comedy panel show Insert Name Here.

In 2017, Richard began hosting his very own show, Richard Osman's House of Games. In this show, four famous people compete each weekday in different general knowledge games. It's a very popular show, and many series have been made. In 2020, he created a special version called House of Games Night for BBC One.

Leaving Pointless

On 8 April 2022, Richard Osman announced he would be leaving Pointless after 1,300 episodes. He decided to leave because his The Thursday Murder Club books had become incredibly successful. He wanted to spend more time writing.

He still appears on the spin-off show Pointless Celebrities. Richard said that Pointless was "a joy from start to finish" and that he would miss everyone. Alexander Armstrong, his co-host, said that "Daytime television's loss is international best-selling crime fiction's gain."

In November 2023, Richard started a podcast called The Rest Is Entertainment with Marina Hyde.

Richard Osman's Literary Career

Richard Osman at Bloody Scotland, a festival for crime writers, in 2019

Richard Osman is a very successful author. A big publisher, Viking Press (part of Penguin Random House), bought the rights to his first book, The Thursday Murder Club, and another novel. They paid a lot of money for them! His first crime novel was published on 3 September 2020.

The Thursday Murder Club Series

The Thursday Murder Club series is set in a fancy retirement village in Kent, England. In these books, four older residents get together to solve crime cases. They even investigate a real murder mystery!

Richard Osman shared in August 2020 that famous director Steven Spielberg had bought the rights to make the book into a film. The first book sold 45,000 hardback copies in the UK in just three days. By March 2021, it had sold over one million copies in the UK!

The first book was followed by The Man Who Died Twice in 2021. Then came The Bullet That Missed in 2022, and The Last Devil To Die in 2023. The Last Devil To Die even reached number one on the New York Times Best Seller list in America. A fifth book in the series is planned for 2025.

Richard Osman's newest book, We Solve Murders, is the first in a brand new series. It was released in September 2024.

Other Activities and Interests

Richard Osman has been involved in other projects too. He presented a podcast called The Birthday Game. In 2021, he was featured in adverts for a food brand.

In December 2021, Richard was a guest on the famous BBC Radio 4 show Desert Island Discs. On this show, guests choose eight songs, a book, and a luxury item they would take if they were stranded on a desert island. His favourite song choice was "You Can't Stop the Beat" from the musical Hairspray.

On 9 June 2022, Richard Osman was the subject of the BBC show Who Do You Think You Are?. In this show, famous people research their family history. Richard discovered that a distant relative of his was involved in a famous murder case from the Victorian era.

Richard Osman's Personal Life

Richard Osman was born with a condition called nystagmus. This is an eye condition that makes his vision not as clear as most people's. Because of this, he learns his TV scripts by heart instead of reading them from a teleprompter.

Richard has two children from his first marriage, which ended in divorce. On 3 December 2022, he married British actress Ingrid Oliver. They met when she was a contestant on his show, Richard Osman's House Of Games.

In 2011, he won Heat magazine's "Weirdest Crush Award." He is also a big fan of Fulham F.C., a football team. As of 2021, Richard Osman was living in Chiswick, a part of West London.

Richard is very tall, standing at 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m). He has joked that his height was one of the reasons he couldn't become a spy for MI6!

Television Work: A Closer Look

Richard Osman has worked on many television shows, both as a producer and as a presenter.

Production Credits

Presenting Roles

Non-Presenting Appearances