John Howlett attended Tonbridge School and went on to read History at Oxford. With David Sherwin he co-wrote the script for Crusaders which later became Lindsay Anderson's If... (1968). He was also written eight novels, including Railway Joe, Murder of a Moderate Man, Credible Maximum Accident and Tango November. He is a screenwriter and has written for television, including his dramatization of Len Deighton's novel Game, Set and Match. John Howlett lives in East Sussex, England.