Ben Law is arguably Britain's greatest living woodsman. He has inspired millions with numerous TV appearances, training courses and lectures, and was most notably voted by viewers of Channel 4's Grand Designs program as having the Best Ever Build with his Woodland House. He has also been on the BBC programs Countryfile and The Green Team. In America, Ben's profile is on the rise due to appearances on The World's Greenest Homes, The World?s Most Extreme Homes (HGTV) and Nightline (ABC). He has worked on a smallholding, growing fruits and vegetables and looking after livestock. Having gained an Advanced National Certificate in Agriculture, he became a shepherd and set up a conservation landscaping business, specializing in ponds and wild flower meadows. Woodlands were a natural progression and after seeking out a few experienced coppice workers, he began work in the woods and in associated coppice crafts. In the late 1980s, Ben visited the Amazon looking for positive solutions to deforestation and on his return set up and directed the charity, The Forest Management Foundation, working primarily with community forestry.

Ben was a founding member of the Forest Stewardship Council. He has also worked for Oxfam as a permaculture consultant. Ben has lived and worked at Prickly Nut Wood for 20 years, where he trains apprentices and runs woodland-based courses. He is most well-known, however, for his 10 year struggle to obtain planning permission to build a house in his own woods, made mainly out of materials from the woodland itself. Ben is the author of three best selling books: The Woodland Way, The Woodland House and The Woodland Year. He is also the presenter of the Roundwood Timber Framing DVD, a film which acts as a companion to this book and records in detail one of his recent builds from beginning to end, as well visiting previous projects.