I first met 23 year old Jeffrey Archer back in 1964 when he, together with fellow student Adrian Metcalfe (British athlete and broadcaster) lodged with my grandparents in Iffley Road, close to the centre of the city. At the time Jeffrey was a student at Brasenose College where he was studying for a Graduate Diploma in Education. It was, however, his athletic prowess, specialising in sprinting and hurdling, which earned him a prestigious Blue in Athletics representing the University, having run the 100 yard dash in 9.6 seconds for Great Britain in 1966. He also served as the President of the Oxford University Athletic Club for the 1965–1966 academic year. Some 32 years later, Archer went on to buy the historic stopwatch for £8,855 at a London auction which had timed Sir Roger Bannister when he broke the four minute mile, running at the Iffley Road Running Track. He kindly returned it to the Oxford University Athletic Club. Just 22 years ago, at the age of 64, he took on the challenge of running the 2004 London Marathon in an ambitious charity fundraising attempt.
Not only was Oxford the place where Jeffrey Archer went to University, it is also where he met his wife Mary Weedon who was studying chemistry at St Anne’s College. They married in July 1966 at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin in Oxford’s High Street. Whilst Jeffrey would go on to enter a career initially in politics, later becoming one of the most successful novelists selling more than 330 million copies of his books, sold in around 119 counties, translated to more than 47 languages, Mary went on to pursue an extraordinarily successful career in science, specialising in solar energy conversion.
Having left Oxford, he served as a Conservative councillor on the Greater London Council from 1967 to 1970, becoming an elected MP for Louth, Lincolnshire, in 1969. Spending five years in the Commons, Archer had a promising political career. It was only when he invested heavily in a Canadian company (on the advice of an American Bank), that when the company went into liquidation, with three directors receiving jail sentences for fraud, Jeffrey found himself left with debts of £427,727 (equivalent in 2026 to £4,210,156). Facing bankruptcy, he resigned from the House of Commons. Determined to repay his creditors in full, he penned his first novel said to have been inspired by his own real-life experience of near-bankruptcy.
Thus in 1976, Oxford became the place where at the age of 34, Jeffrey wrote his first novel ‘Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less’. Written at the home of his former Oxford Principal, it went on to be sold in 17 countries within a year, was made into a successful series for BBC Radio 4 and later televised by the BBC in 1990.
Following his initial success, his second novel was a fast moving thriller entitled ‘Shall We Tell the President?’ based on a plot to assassinate Edward Kennedy whilst he was President of the United States. ‘Kane and Abel’ was released in the UK in 1979 and the United States in early 1980. It became an international success with over one millions copies sold in its first week. ‘The Prodigal Daughter’ released in 1982 was a sequel.
He was selected as the official Conservative Party Candidate for the Mayor of London in October 1999 by an overwhelming majority. However, just a few weeks later, his success was short-lived when he was charged with perjury and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and he had to withdraw his candidacy. Facing a four year prison sentence in 2001, he was released in 2003 after serving just two years. Ever the writer, he penned three volumes of his prison diaries during this time.
Since his first best-selling novel, Jeffrey Archer has penned 59 works including 31 Novels, 7 short-story collections, 3 prison diaries, 3 plays, 11 children’s books and other stories. To be such a successful author, Jeffrey sticks to a strict writing routine working in four two-hour shifts each day, starting at 6am. The Archers’ home in Majorca is a favourite place for him to write along with their beautiful country retreat in Cambridgeshire.
Alongside his successful writing career, charity work has always been part of Jeffrey’s life. He has successfully supported many fundraising events, for hundreds of different charities, big and small, working as a charity auctioneer, raising millions of pounds from their generous supporters. Growing up in Weston-Super-Mare, he has been a long-term supporter of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and is patron of their appeal for their new lifeboat station.
“The auctions for Make-A-Wish and Chain of Hope are always two highlights in my auction calendar,” says Archer. “But one charity in particular, Prostate Cancer UK, is dear to my heart, because they helped me greatly when I faced cancer in 2013. Thanks to their advice, and the brilliance of my surgeon at Addenbrookes, here I am thirteen years later still writing, still auctioneering.”
In 1991, Jeffrey was co-ordinator for the Campaign for Kurdish Relief along with the British Red Cross, and which raised over £50m for the cause. He was made a Life Peer in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List of 1992 for his political work in the Conservative Party.
In October 2026, Archer’s latest and what he purports will be his last full-length novel ‘Adam and Eve’ is published. It is an epic World War II historic fiction story. The key characters are Adam, a shepherd’s son and Eve, an Earl’s daughter, both born on Armistice Day in 1918. Their lives intersect and unfold against the backdrop of war.
“My last novel ‘Adam and Eve’ is one I am holding my breath on, because it is not, in many ways, the book most readers expect from me,” Jeffrey explains. “After that, I am working on something I cannot yet talk about, though my publishers and family know what it is, and I will say more when the time is right.”
“Allow me to end by thanking all my readers from around the world, in 119 countries (translated into 51 languages) from Sydney to Toronto, from Buenos Aires to New York, from Mumbai to Tokyo, while not forgetting my homeland, which has allowed this simple storyteller the privilege of spending so many hours in your company. I should have been Prime Minister, captain of the England cricket team, or won an Olympic gold for the hundred metres, but then we can all dream. As Marcel Proust reminded us: ‘We always end up doing the thing we’re second best at.’ I can only hope that you’ve discovered what you’re second best at.”
Don’t miss out on the chance of listening to the quick witted and entertaining Jeffrey Archer talking to Times Radio broadcaster and Labour peer Ayesha Hazarika about his latest novel at this year’s Cheltenham Literature Festival. Together, they will reflect on an extraordinary writing career and Jeffrey's final book. Tickets are selling fast but Jeffrey will be in Cheltenham on Saturday 10 October at 7pm (Booking code LE57 cheltenhamfestivals.org/events/jeffrey-archer). This event is being broadcast. Arrive by 6.50pm to be seated. There will be a book signing after this event.
To find out more about Jeffrey Archer and his books visit jeffreyarcher.com
