John Carlin was born London in 1956 although for much of his life he has lived and worked in South America, the USA and South Africa.
A writer and journalist, he began his media career as a sports reporter, film critic and political writer for the Buenos Aires Herald, Argentina.
From 1982 to 1986 he was based in Mexico City and San Salvador, as a correspondent for The Times, BBC World Service, ABC Radio (US), CBC Radio (Canada), Toronto Star covering Mexico and Central America.
From 1986 to 1989 he was Mexico and Central America bureau chief for the London Independent, based in Mexico City and Managua.
He was South Africa bureau chief, based in Johannesburg from 1989 - 1995, for the London Independent and was nominated three times for the British foreign correspondent of the year award.
As US bureau chief for the Independent on Sunday, he was based in Washington from 1995 to 1998.
His award-winning freelance career includes magazine articles and books. In 2000 he won the top Spanish journalism award, the Ortega y Gasset prize, for his article on immigration for el PaÃs. He wrote the PBS Emmy-nominated documentary 'Frontline', 'The Long Walk of Nelson Mandela' and Channel Four's documentary 'Kicking the Habit' about Diego Maradona.
In 2004 he published two books. Heroica Tierra Cruel on Africa, with a foreword written by Nelson Mandela, and White Angels about Real Madrid. That same year he was Finalist for the William Hill British Sports Book of the Year award and won the British Press Awards Food and Drink Writer of the Year.
John's work has been translated to the silver screen. He sold the screen rights for an article he wrote for Wired magazine to 20th Century Fox to create the film 'Die Hard 4', starring Bruce Willis. His book on Nelson Mandela 'Playing the Enemy' "Invictus" published in August 2008 and translated into 14 languages, was made into the Warner Bros film 'Invictus' starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, directed by Clint Eastwood, released in 2010.
His latest book, about Rafael Nadal titled Rafa: My Story was co-authored by John with Nadal.