Born in Hong Kong, Douglas Board has degrees from Cambridge and Harvard and worked for the UK Treasury and then as a headhunter. He has also had a distinguished career in public life, serving as treasurer of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and chairing the British Refugee Council. He is currently an honorary senior visiting fellow at the business school of City, University of London.

He is the author of two applied research books on leadership, which was the subject of his doctorate. Elites, published by Eye Books in 2021, is the product of his years of experience as a headhunter. In addition he is the author of two novels: the campus satire MBA, which asked why so much of the business world is Managed By Arseholes, and Time of Lies, an exploration of the collapse of democracy. He also wrote the free-to-download novelette, The Rats: A White House Satire.

Follow him on Twitter @BoardWryter.