Richard Osman

Richard Thomas Osman (born 28 November 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, and novelist. He is the creator and former co-presenter of the BBC One television quiz show Pointless. He has presented the BBC Two quiz shows Two Tribes and Richard Osman's House of Games, and been a team captain on the comedy panel shows Insert Name Here and The Fake News Show. He has also made regular appearances on British comedy panel shows including Would I Lie to You?, QI, Have I Got News for You and Taskmaster.

Osman worked at Hat Trick Productions before becoming creative director of the television production company Endemol UK, producing shows including Prize Island for ITV and Deal or No Deal for Channel 4. He is the author of the best-selling Thursday Murder Club mystery novels.

Early life and education

Richard Thomas Osman was born on 28 November 1970, in Billericay, Essex, to Brenda Wright and David Osman. When he was nine years old, his father walked out on the family, which Osman says created difficulty for the rest of his life. His mother attended teacher training college and found making money to support her family a struggle. His older brother is the musician Mat Osman, bass guitarist of the rock band Suede. The boys grew up in Haywards Heath, West Sussex.

Osman attended Warden Park School in Cuckfield. While still at school, he gained his first broadcasting experience, as a regular contributor to Turn It Up, an open-access music show which went out on Sunday evenings on BBC Radio Sussex.

From 1989 to 1992, Osman studied politics and sociology at the University of Cambridge where he was an undergraduate student at Trinity College, Cambridge, and a contemporary of future Pointless co-presenter Alexander Armstrong.

Career

Osman's career has been in television production, television presenting and as a novelist.

TV production

Osman worked as executive producer on British gameshows, including Channel 4 comedy panel game 8 Out of 10 Cats and satirical comedy 10 O'Clock Live. He was the creative director at TV company Endemol UK, pitching the idea for Pointless to the BBC, becoming its co-presenter with his former university friend Alexander Armstrong, when it launched in 2009.

Osman created the short-lived 2013 ITV gameshow Prize Island. His other credits include Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Total Wipeout and 24 Hour Quiz.

Osman acted as script editor for BBC One's Total Wipeout. In 1999, he created and wrote the Channel 4 sitcom Boyz Unlimited with David Walliams and Matt Lucas. In 2005, he co-created and co-wrote the animated Channel 4 sitcom Bromwell High.

Osman left Endemol in 2020.

TV presenting and Pointless

From 2009 until 2022, Osman co-presented the BBC One teatime quiz show Pointless with host Alexander Armstrong. He created the show where he is jokingly known as Armstrong's "pointless friend". Having previously worked exclusively in behind-the-camera roles, Osman got the job as co-presenter/assistant when he pitched the idea for the show to a panel of BBC daytime heads, taking the role of the assistant in the demonstration.

Osman guest hosted Have I Got News for You in October 2013. In 2014, he began presenting a new BBC Two quiz show called Two Tribes. A second series began airing in February 2015. From October 2014, he guest-presented episodes of The One Show. Beginning in 2016, he was a team captain on the BBC Two comedy panel show Insert Name Here, hosted by Sue Perkins. A second series was commissioned to begin airing in January 2017.

In February and December 2016, he presented Dragons' Den: Pitches to Riches, two special episodes which looked back over the past 13 series of Dragons' Den on BBC Two. Since 2016, Osman has presented Child Genius on Channel 4. He appeared on the telethon Red Nose Day 2017 with The World Cup of Biscuits 2017. This involved polling with Twitter to find the best British biscuit. In April 2017 he appeared in the first episode of the third series of Murder in Successville.

In 2017, he began hosting his show Richard Osman's House of Games. Each weekday, four panellists compete in general knowledge tests in a variety of entertaining games. Nine series of the show have been made. In 2020, Osman created a spin-off show titled House of Games Night, which aired on BBC One on Friday nights.

On 8 April 2022, Osman announced he would be leaving Pointless, after 1,300 episodes across 30 series. After his Thursday Murder Club series received critical acclaim, he wished to spend more time as an author. He is, however, continuing to appear on the spin-off Pointless Celebrities. In a statement, he said, "Pointless has been a joy from start to finish, working alongside my friend Alexander Armstrong, backed by the most wonderful team, and for the best viewers in the world. I will miss everyone so much, but I'm thrilled I'll still be presenting the celebrity shows. I can't thank everyone enough for 12 amazing years." He was replaced by a rotating series of guest presenters. His co-host Armstrong said, "Daytime television's loss is international best-selling crime fiction's gain. I say that like it's a consolation—I'm going to miss the big man next to me Monday to Friday. But at least I still get him at weekends—and weekdays if you're watching on Challenge".

In November 2023, Osman began hosting a podcast, The Rest is Entertainment, with Marina Hyde. The success of the podcast led to the two presenters appearing live for a sold out Christmas version of the show at the Royal Albert Hall in December 2024.

In March 2026, Osman announced he would be leaving House of Games. He was replaced by actor Michael Sheen in October 2026.

Literary work

Viking Press, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House, acquired the rights to Osman's debut novel, The Thursday Murder Club, and one other novel, for a seven-figure sum in a 10-publisher auction in 2019. Osman's debut crime novel was published on 3 September 2020.