Bryson has written a number of nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science.

Born in the United States, he has been a resident of Britain for most of his adult life, returning to the U.S. between 1995 and 2003, and holds dual American and British citizenship.

[7][8] Bryson was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, the son of Bill Bryson Sr., a sports journalist who worked for 50 years at The Des Moines Register, and Agnes Mary (née McGuire), the home furnishings editor at the same newspaper.

In 2006, Bryson published The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, a humorous account of his childhood years in Des Moines.

"[12] Bryson attended Drake University for two years before dropping out in 1972, deciding instead to backpack around Europe for four months.

He returned to Europe the following year with a high school friend, Matt Angerer (the pseudonymous Stephen Katz).

Bryson first visited Great Britain in 1973[14] during his tour of Europe[15] and decided to stay after securing a job working in a psychiatric hospital,[16] the now-defunct Holloway Sanatorium in Virginia Water, Surrey.

[16] While living in the U.S. in the 1990s, Bryson wrote a column for a British newspaper for several years, reflecting on humorous aspects of his repatriation in the United States.

These columns were selected and adapted to become his book I'm a Stranger Here Myself, alternatively titled Notes from a Big Country in Britain, Canada, and Australia.

In the 2015 film adaptation of A Walk in the Woods, Bryson is portrayed by Academy Award winner Robert Redford, and Katz by Nick Nolte.

Although one "top scientist" is alleged to have jokingly described the book as "annoyingly free of mistakes", Bryson makes no such claim, and a list of some of its reported errors is available online.

[45][46] His biography at the Society reads, Bill Bryson is a popular author who is driven by a deep curiosity for the world we live in.

His international bestseller, A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003), is widely acclaimed for its accessible communication of science and has since been adapted for children.He is a Vice President of the National Churches Trust.