Matt Ridley's books have been finalists for nine major literary prizes, won several awards, been translated into thirty languages, and sold over one million copies.

He currently writes the Mind and Matter column in the Wall Street Journal and writes regularly for The Times. As Viscount Ridley, he was appointed to the House of Lords in 2013 and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, the Academy of Medical Sciences, and a foreign honourary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.