Roderic Jeffries was born in London in 1926 and was educated at Southampton's School of Navigation. In 1943 he went to sea with the New Zealand Shipping Company and returned to England in 1949 where he was subsequently called to the Bar. He practised law for a short period before starting to write full time in the fifties. His books have been published in many different countries and have been adapted for film, TV and radio.

He and his wife live in Mallorca. They have two children.