Born on 6th September, 1955 in Texas, USA Raymond Benson had a efficacious tie to the arts from an early age. The would be writer studied the piano and went on to perfect his musical artform and play as a concert pianist. At age 9 Benson was taken to see "Goldfinger", the third installment in the James Bond franchise. Later he citied this, together with the viewing of Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" as milestones in his growing love for cinema. In 1979 he moved to New York to persue a theatre career - climaxing in his production of "The Resurrection of Jackie Cramer" for which he served as director.

Raymond Benson wrote "The James Bond Bedside Companion", which was short listed for the Edgar Allen Poe Award for best biographical/critical work, before taking over the role of official James Bond author from John Gardner.

He is a director of the Ian Fleming Foundation and served as vice-president of the American James Bond 007 Fan Club for several years. Benson is also the designer and writer of several award-winning computer games and spent over a decade in New York directing stage productions and composing music. He has taught Film Theory classes at the New School for Social Research in New York and interactive screen writing at Columbia College in Chicago. Benson is married, has one son and lives in suburban Chicago. He stepped down from the role as official 007 author in February 2003.