Peter Mayer was born in London in 1936 and immigrated to the United States in 1939. He received his B.A. in English literature at Columbia University on a Ford Foundation scholarship and graduated with highest honors in 1956. While at Columbia, Peter enrolled as a visiting student at Oxford University where he participated in their Politics, Philosophy, and Economics program. Following his undergraduate studies, Peter was granted a graduate fellowship in comparative literature at the University of Indiana, before receiving a Fulbright fellowship in 1959 to study German literature at the Freie Universitat in Berlin. In 1961 Peter was hired as an editor at Orion Press, and in 1962 he began his tenure at Avon Books, rising from education editor to editor in chief before ultimately becoming Avon’s publisher and vice president.

In the late 1970s Peter served two years as the Publisher and President of Pocket Books before becoming Penguin’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer based in London and New York in 1978. As CEO, Peter oversaw Penguin’s US, UK, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Holland, and Indian companies and received numerous industry accolades including the Foundation of Publishers’ and Booksellers’ Association’s award for Outstanding Contribution to International Publishing, as well as the Literary Marketplace Person of the Year Award for Most Distinguished Publisher. Between 1978 and 1982, Peter served twice on Harvard University’s visiting committee, and in 1996 he was awarded the title Chevalier and Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture.

Today Peter Mayer is the President and Publisher of The Overlook Press, Ardis Publishers and Gerald Duckworth Publishers, Ltd, where he is joined by industry veterans Tracy Carns, George Davidson, Bernie Schleifer, and Jack Lamplough as well as a dedicated staff of innovative newer colleagues. In his career, Mayer has gained membership to numerous trade associations, including the Association of American Publishers, the Frankfurt Bookfair Fellowship Board, the National Book Foundation, the NYU Publishers Advisory Board, the Scholastic Board of Directors, the Read Russia Advisory Committee and the German Book Office. In 2007 Peter received the “Poor Richard’s Award” for Lifetime Contribution to Independent Publishing, given by the New York Center for Independent Publishing, and in 2008 was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the London Book Fair. He is the author and editor of four books.