Ronnie Biggs was an English criminal who helped plan and carry out the Great Train Robbery of 1963. He subsequently became notorious for his escape from prison in 1965, living as a fugitive for 36 years, and for his various publicity stunts while in exile. In 2001, Biggs returned to the United Kingdom and spent several years in prison, where his health rapidly declined. He was released from prison on compassionate grounds in August 2009 and died in a nursing home in December 2013.
Chris Pickard was the original ghostwriter of Ronnie's bestselling autobiography, Odd Man Out, originally published by Bloomsbury in 1995.