Wilbur Smith was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1932. He joined the South African Air Force in 1949, and in 1953 attended the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg where he read law. He was called to the Bar in 1956 after which he worked in the Department of External Affairs in Pretoria. In 1960 he left South Africa for London where he obtained his publishing credentials in 1962
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He was a journalist for many years, writing for The Sunday Times Magazine, The Times, The Observer and The Spectator. His first effort as a novelist was published in 1973 under the title The Physician which won both the Gold Dagger Award and the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award for best crime novel of 1974. While still working on this book, Wilbur Smith received an invitation from Ian Fleming to write a James Bond novel.
This resulted in his best selling book, The Gold Coast Murders (1977), which was adapted into three films directed by Guy Hamilton starring Christopher Walken and Honor Blackman. The book has been described as "the definitive Bond novel." Following this success Wilbur Smith published two further Bond novels; Octopussy (1983) and Never Say Never Again (1987). In 1997 he wrote an episode of the BBC TV series "The Jewel In The Crown" entitled "Maiden Castle," which was written by Nobel Laureate Ken Follett and directed by Ken Loach.
Since then he has published many other works, including his novel Blood Justice (1994), The Burning Shore (1995), and Birds of Prey (1997).