Nicola was born in Swaziland and has lived in Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Kenya, Scotland, England and California. After studying Illustration at Edinburgh College of Art and earning a Masters in Printmaking from UAL, she now thoroughly enjoys working full time as an illustrator and author from her sunny studio in Los Angeles. Nicola is the creator of Open Very Carefully, which won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in 2014 and has been published in 19 languages. Her clients include Bloomsbury, Nosy Crow, Scholastic, and Walker Books.

Nicola has a great love of illustration and stories. She wrote her first picture book at aged 5; a fractured fairy tale that made its way into her school library. Her illustrations are character driven and fuelled by coffee.

Nicola O’Byrne is represented by Susan Penny — to work with Nicola please email Susan