Born in Knotty Ash, Liverpool, Berlie Doherty is the youngest of three children. She has been a social worker, a journalist, a teacher, and, for the past fifteen years, a writer.

Berlie has twice won the prestigious Carnegie Medal, for 'Grannie was a Buffer Girl' in 1987 and for 'Dear Nobody' in 1992. She lives in the Derbyshire Peak District.