Christopher Nicholson was born on 5 February 1945 on a farm near Richmond, Natal, South Africa, and was educated at Michaelhouse and at the University of Natal where he read law. He is a cousin of the brothers Peter and Graeme Pollock who played Test cricket for South Africa and a cousin of the writer Alan Paton. He practised as a human rights lawyer, assisting victims of apartheid, before majority rule was won in 1994. His efforts were recognized with two awards and he was appointed a high court judge in 1995.He retired in July 2010 to pursue his writing career. He has published six books. The first two books were nominated for the Alan Paton prize for non-fiction.