Olivier Guez was born in 1974 in Strasbourg, France. Both his parents were doctors. After studying at Sciences Po Strasbourg and then at the London School of Economics, he worked as a freelance journalist for several major international media outlets, including The New York Times, Le Monde, The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Le Figaro Magazine, L’Express, and Le Point. Between 2000 and 2005, he worked as a reporter in the International Economy Department of La Tribune. Based his experience during this period, he co-wrote his first book La Grande Alliance with Frédéric Encel.
In 2014, he published his first novel Les Révolutions de Jacques Koskas. After three years of meticulous research, he wrote a novel about the infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele; published in 2017, The Disappearance of Josef Mengele (original French title: La Disparition de Josef Mengele) received the Prix Renaudot.
