Peter Cowie began writing about the cinema at Cambridge University in 1960. He has since published more than twenty books, including critical biographies of Bergman, Welles and Coppola. In 1963 he founded the annual International Film Guide, which he edited for forty years.
Cowie has also provided commentaries for several DVDs of classic films in the Criterion Collection. He has served on the jury at numerous festivals and is a member of the board of the European Film College.
Cowie was International Publishing Director of Variety from 1993 to 2000, and now lives in Switzerland.