Joanne
Rowling, born 31 July 1965, who writes under the pen names J. K.
Rowling and Robert Galbraith, is a British novelis and screenwriter
who wrote the Harry Potter fantasy series. The books have won multiple awards,
and sold more than 400 million copies. They have become the best selling
books in history and been the basis for a series of films, over which
Rowling had overall approval on the scripts and was a producer on the final
films in the series.
Born
in Yate, Gloucestershire,
England, Rowling was working as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty
International when she conceived the idea for the Harry Potter series while on a
delayed train from Manchester to London in 1990.
Rowling has lived a "rags to riches" life story, in which she progressed from living on state benefits to multi-millionaire status within five years. She is the United Kingdom's best-selling living author, with sales in excess of £238M.