Richard Rudgley studied social anthropology and religious studies at the University of London, and went on to study ethnology and prehistory at Oxford. He is currently based at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, undertaking research into the prehistoric and ancient use of psychoactive plants. In 1991 he became the first winner of the British Museum Prometheus Award, which resulted in the publication of his first book, The Alchemy of Culture: Intoxicants in Society. He is married with a daughter and a son and divides most of his time between London and Oxford.