Sir David Attenborough author biography, plus links to books by Sir David Attenborough.

Sir David Attenborough

David Attenborough is Britain's best-known natural history filmmaker. His career as a naturalist, broadcaster and author has spanned over seven decades. Born in 1926, his first job - after Cambridge University and two years in the Royal Navy - was at a London publishing house. Then in 1952 he joined the BBC as a trainee producer, and it was while working on the Zoo Quest series (1954-64) that he had his first opportunity to undertake expeditions to remote parts of the globe, to capture intimate footage of rare wildlife in its natural habitat.  He was Controller of BBC 2 (1965-68), during which time he introduced colour television to Britain, then Director of Programmes for BBC Television (1969-1972). In 1973 he abandoned administration altogether to return to documentary-making and writing, and has established himself as the world's leading Natural History programme maker with landmark BBC series, including Life on Earth (1979), The Living Planet (1984), The Trials of Life (1990), The Private Life of Plants (1995), Life of Birds (1998), The Blue Planet (2001), Life of Mammals (2002), Planet Earth (2006) and Life in Cold Blood (2008). He has also narrated other major natural history series including Blue Planet, Planet Earth, The Frozen Planet, Planet Earth II, Dynasties and Blue Planet II.

He has served as trustee of the British Museum, the Science Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and as President of the Royal Society for Nature Conservation. He continues to narrate landmark natural history programmes and write bestselling books.  

This biography was last updated on 05/06/2025.

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