Delia Smith is Britain's bestselling cookery writer, whose books have sold over 21 million to date. She began her writing career 40 years ago on the Daily Mirror and since then has presented very many cookery series on television and published numerous bestselling cookery books including Delia Smith's Cookery Course, Summer and Winter Collections, The Vegetarian Collection, Delia's How to Cook and Delia's Happy Christmas among others.

After a five-year break in 2003 to concentrate on Norwich City Football Club (where she is a director) and Canary Catering, Delia returned in 2008 with a new BBC TV series and the fastest-selling cookery book of all time, How to Cheat at Cooking. Her Complete How to Cook was released in 2009 to celebrate 40 years of writing recipes and was voted the Most Useful Cookery Book of All Time. She was also awarded a CBE for her services to the food industry. Delia is married to the writer and editor, Michael Wynn Jones. They live in Suffolk.