Cristina Odone

Early life Odone was born in Nairobi, Kenya, to an Italian father, Augusto Odone, and a Swedish mother. Her half-brother was Lorenzo Odone, after whom Lorenzo's oil is named.

Odone's father was a World Bank official, which led to the family regularly moving. Odone went initially to Marymount School, then later to the National Cathedral School, Washington, D.C. After her parents' divorce, Odone studied French literature and history at Worcester College, Oxford. Odone later worked for the World Bank in Washington, D.C., as an advisor to European companies. In 1996, Odone became the television critic for The Daily Telegraph, a position she held for two years.

In 1998, Odone became deputy editor of the New Statesman. Odone resigned in November 2004. For six years Odone was a weekly columnist for The Observer.

Following a dispute with Johann Hari while they were colleagues at the New Statesman, Odone commented that pejorative changes were made to her Wikipedia entry. It subsequently became apparent that Hari was responsible, using pseudonymous sockpuppet accounts to make edits attacking Odone and his critics.

A frequent contributor to radio and television debates, Odone is presently a columnist for The Daily Telegraph.

Published works Odone has written four novels: The Shrine (1996), A Perfect Wife (1997), The Dilemmas of Harriet Carew (2008) and The Good Divorce Guide (2009) She contributed to Why I am still a Catholic (2005).

Personal life Odone is married to Edward Lucas, The couple have one child; Lucas has two children from a previous marriage.