Tom Rachman is the author of five works of fiction: his bestselling debut, The Imperfectionists (2010), which was translated into 25 languages; the critically acclaimed follow-up, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers (2014); a story collection, Basket of Deplorables (2017); a novel set in the art world, The Italian Teacher (2018); and a novel-in-stories about writers, The Imposters (2023). He also co-wrote the nonfiction bestseller We Are Bellingcat (2021) by Eliot Higgins.

Born in London, then raised in Vancouver, Tom has degrees in cinema from the University of Toronto, journalism from Columbia University in New York, and behavioral science from the London School of Economics. He worked at The Associated Press as a foreign-news editor in Manhattan headquarters, then became a correspondent in Rome. He also reported from India, Sri Lanka, Japan, South Korea, Egypt, Turkey and elsewhere. To write fiction, he left the AP and moved to Paris, supporting himself as an editor at the International Herald Tribune.

Later, he became involved in studying artificial intelligence, working as a seasonal fellow at the Centre for the Governance of AI.

His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The New Yorker, and was a contributing columnist at The Globe & Mail. He lives in London.