J. K. Rowling Add a review

Joanne Rowling ( ROH-ling; born 31 July 1965), better known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author, philanthropist, producer, and screenwriter. She is best known for writing Harry Potter, a seven-volume series about a young wizard. Published from 1997 to 2007, the fantasy novels are the best-selling book series in history, with over 600 million copies sold. They have been translated into 84 languages and have spawned a global media franchise including films and video games. She writes Cormoran Strike, an ongoing crime fiction series, under the alias Robert Galbraith.

Born in Yate, Gloucestershire, Rowling was working as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International in 1990 when she conceived the idea for the Harry Potter series. The seven-year period that followed saw the death of her mother, the birth of her first child, divorce from her first husband, and relative poverty until the first novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was published in 1997. Six sequels followed, concluding with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007). By 2008, Forbes had named her the world's highest-paid author.

Rowling has won many accolades for her work. She was named to the Order of the British Empire and was appointed a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour for services to literature and philanthropy. Harry Potter brought her wealth and recognition, which she has used to advance philanthropic endeavours and political causes. Rowling's philanthropy includes donations to medical causes, supporting at-risk women and children, the British Labour Party, and opposition to Scottish independence and Brexit. Forbes has estimated that Rowling's total charitable giving between 2005 and 2025 exceeded US$200 million.

Rowling attracted criticism from fans and colleagues when she began making trans-exclusionary remarks on social media from 2019 onwards, including opposition to gender self-identification, opposition to allowing trans women into women's toilets, and support for gender-critical activists. She donated money to the gender-critical group For Women Scotland, the plaintiffs in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers.