Zoë Sharp was born in Nottinghamshire, but spent most of her formative years living on a catamaran on the northwest coast of England. After a promising start at a private girls' school, she opted out of mainstream education at the age of twelve in favour of correspondence courses at home. She wrote her first (unpublished) novel when she was fifteen.

Zoë went through a variety of jobs in her teenage years, from yacht delivery crew to van driver, horse riding instructor to pensions and mortgage advisor, and which included a soul-destroying stint selling advertising for a local newspaper. In 1988, on the strength of one accepted article, Zoë gave up her regular job to become a freelance photo-journalist, and has been making a living writing and photographing ever since.

She lives in Cumbria, and is married, but says she would rather have a motorbike than children. Her hobbies are sailing, fast cars, (and faster motorbikes), target shooting, travel, films, music, and reading just about anything she can get her hands on.