Peter Høeg was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on May 17, 1957. His father was a lawyer and his mother a classical philologist. Høeg worked as an actor, dancer, drama teacher, and sailor before turning to writing in 1988. Høeg has also traveled extensively throughout the world, most notably in Africa. His wife, Akinyi, is Kenyan, and Høeg and his family visit Africa frequently.

Høeg's first novel Forestilling om det tyvende arhundrede was published in Denmark in 1988. Translated as The History of Danish Dreams, the book was published in English in 1995. Critics praised the debut novel highly. However, it was not until the publication of his third novel, Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne, that Høeg became known internationally. Published simultaneously in 1993 as Smilla's Sense of Snow by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in the United States and...