Tim Ecott

Tim Ecott is a former BBC World Service staff correspondent with extensive experience of writing for radio and screen. At university he studied Social Anthropology and first moved into radio from film, flitting between the two throughout his career. He writes nonfiction, drawing heavily on his fondness for the natural world. He has worked widely in Africa and the Indian Ocean.

Tim’s first nonfiction book was Neutral Buoyancy: adventures in a liquid world (Penguin, 2001), a bestseller largely researched underwater, and now in its hnineteenth impression. Next came Vanilla: travels in search of the luscious substance (Penguin, 2004) and Stealing Water (Sceptre, 2008), a memoir about his childhood in Ireland and Africa. Tim also wrote the screenplay for the feature-length version of the BBC’s Blue Planet series, Deep Blue, and produced a documentary about manta rays for ITV. His writing is extremely varied and includes contributing material to the BBC’s QI, as well as chapters for The QI Book of the Dead (Faber & Faber). He also wrote The Story of Seychelles (Outer Island Books, 2015).

Tim Ecott’s journalism appears widely and he continues to broadcast on the BBC, on programmes such as Crossing Continents and From Our Own Correspondent. His latest project involves the Faroe Islands and the relationship the islanders have with nature. He lives near Oxford with his wife Jessica and two children. Tim is a Fellow of the RGS, a member of the Society of Authors and UK Trustee for the Central Caribbean Marine Institute.