Perhaps most famous for his novel The Crimson Petal and the White, this Dutch Writer also penned the O. Henry Prize winning short story "Bye Bye Natalia" and several other acclaimed works of long and short fiction.
Before beginning his literary career, he graduated from the University of Melbourne and worked for a decade as a nurse. He published his first short story collection, Some Rain Must Fall, in 1998 and his debut novel, Under the Skin, in 2000.
A Journalist as well as a Novelist, he wrote for the Sunday Herald; Scotland on Sunday; and The Sunday Times.
Though he was born in The Hague, Netherlands, he spent the majority of his childhood in Melbourne, Australia. He and his second wife, Eva, eventually settled in Scotland.
His novel Under the Skin was the basis for a 2013 film starring Scarlett Johansson.
