John Richard Thomas Sullivan OBE (23 December 1946 – 22 April 2011) was an English television scriptwriter responsible for several British sitcoms, including Only Fools and Horses, Citizen Smith and Just Good Friends.

Sullivan failed his eleven-plus and attended Telferscot Secondary Modern School, where he had an inspirational English teacher named Jim Trowers, who sparked an interest in reading the novels of Charles Dickens and discovered his talent for writing stories.

[15] Through Ray Butt, a BBC producer and director whom Sullivan had met and befriended when they were working on Citizen Smith, a draft script was shown to the corporation's Head of Comedy, John Howard Davies.

Davies commissioned Sullivan to write a full series under an alternative title Only Fools and Horses, which had also been the name of a Citizen Smith episode.

Sullivan believed the key factor in it being accepted was the success of ITV's new drama Minder, a series with a similar premise and also set in 1980s London.

He grew up in a poor household and noted in an interview that he and his friends seemingly had no opportunities after leaving school apart from becoming, as Sullivan put it, "factory fodder".

[4] With the success of Only Fools..., at the suggestion of his wife he decided to write a romantic comedy series featuring a strong female lead character.

Sullivan won the Writers' Guild of Great Britain comedy award for the 1996 Only Fools and Horses (OFAH) Christmas trilogy and another from The Heritage Foundation in 2001.

[20] On 22 July 2012, a blue plaque was unveiled by David Jason at Teddington Studios in Middlesex, England, to celebrate Sullivan's contribution to British comedy.

[2] BBC Director-General Mark Thompson paid tribute, saying: "John had a unique gift for turning everyday life and characters we all know into unforgettable comedy.