Andrew Wilson was born in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, in 1967. After graduating from King’s College, London, with a First in English he studied journalism at City University, London. He left there in 1989, winning the John Willis Memorial Prize for an investigation into male prostitution and started work as a magazine journalist. In 1992 he embarked on a career in freelance writing and since then he has worked for a range of publications including the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph, the Independent on Sunday and the Guardian. He has written celebrity profiles as well as features on the arts, travel, television, crime and pieces of investigative journalism. He lives with his partner in north London. Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith is Andrew Wilson's first book.

Andrew Wilson has been awarded the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Critical Biography for Beautiful Shadow: A Life of Patricia Highsmith.

Beautiful Shadow has been selected as a nominee in the Nonfiction category of the Macavity Award, given by the Mystery Readers International.  The Macavity Awards will be given at Bouchercon, the World Mystery convention, in October in Toronto.