Richard Ovenden is the Bodley's Librarian. Since 1987 he has worked in a number of important archives and libraries, including the House of Lords Library, the National Library of Scotland (as a Curator of Rare Books) and in the University of Edinburgh, where he was Director of Collections. Ovenden was elected to Fellowships of the Society of Antiquaries and the Royal Society of Arts, and a Foreign Member of the American Philosophical Society. He is an Honorary Fellow of St Hugh's College, Oxford and holds a Professorial Fellowship at Balliol College, Oxford. His writing has been frequently published in major newspapers and online platforms. Burning the Books is his first book.