Ben Robinson was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, and grew up in Sutton, near Earith, in a farming family in the Cambridgeshire fenlands. As a child he developed a deep fascination with local history, particularly the village’s old Second World War airfield near his home. His date of birth and details of his parents are not publicly available, though the Issuu profile indicates he completed his computer science degree at age 22, placing his birth around 1967.

Robinson obtained a BSc (Hons) in Computer Science from Teesside University (then a polytechnic) in 1989. Shortly after graduating, he came across a local radio interview about a nearby archaeological dig and volunteered. Within two weeks he was on the payroll. He went on to work for more than a decade as a heritage adviser before pursuing his doctorate. He achieved his PhD at the University of York in 2008 while working for Peterborough City Council as Historic Environment Manager.

As a youth, Ben persuaded the RAF to teach him to fly. He has enjoyed an aerial perspective on landscape history, as a pilot of microlight aircraft, ever since. This aerial passion gave rise to his television identity as “The Flying Archaeologist”, first on Channel 4’s Time Team and then across BBC Four documentaries. Ben now heads a team at Historic England that investigates and saves threatened historic buildings, monuments and places.

Ben lives with his wife Joanne and their son Wilfie in Huntingdonshire.