Born on October 19, 1931, in Poole, Dorset, England, John le Carré was an intelligence officer for both MI5 and MI6 in the 1950s and 1960s. He started writing novels under his pen name, taken to avoid interference with his work. Le Carré gained recognition with the publication of his third book, 'The Spy Who Came In from the Cold.' His books often draw on his own experiences in intelligence, featuring complex characters and morally ambiguous themes. John le Carré's work has been adapted for film, television, and radio, and he is regarded as one of the greatest spy novelists of all time.