Born in Rio de Janeiro on 24 August 1947, Paulo Coelho had many professions before that of bestselling author: playwright, theatre director, songwriter, journalist and television scriptwriter. Rebelliousness defined his youth. He dropped out of Law School in 1970 and travelled through South America, Mexico, North Africa and Europe. He then returned to Brazil and wrote lyrics for some of Brazil's most popular pop music acts including Elis Regina and Raul Seixas. In 1974 he was briefly imprisonned for alleged subversive activities against the Brazilian government. In 1980 he left his native country again and travelled through Europe and Africa for the second time. In 1986, he walked along the Road of Santiago, the ancient Spanish pilgrimage, which he would later describe in his first book "O diario de um mago" (1987) published in English in 1992 and then re-issued in 1995 as "The Pilgrimage". In 1988, after having been dropped by its first publisher,"O Alquimista" was published and became one of Brazil's all-time bestsellers, was the number one bestseller in 29 countries and made Coelho one of the most read contemporary writers. This was followed by "Brida" in 1990, "As Valkyrias" (1992), "Maktub" (1994) (a compilation of the daily columns he wrote), "Na Margem Do Rio Piedra Eu Sentei E Chorei" (1994), "O Monte Cinco" (1996), "O Manual do guerreiro da luz" (1997) and "Veronika decide morrer" in 1998. "O Demonio e a Srta. Prym" published in 2000 was a success everywhere it was published and Coelho still writes a weekly column syndicated throughout the world to several notable organizations. In 1999, the French magazine "Lire" declared him the second bestselling author worldwide.

He was the founder of the Paulo Coelho Institute, which helps underprivileged members of Brazilian Society and has been nominated adviser to the UNESCO programme "Spiritual Convergences and Intercultural Dialogues".