Fergus O'Connell is one of the world's leading authorities on project management and getting things done in the shortest possible time. The Sunday Business Post has described him as having 'more strings to his bow than a Stradivarius'. He has a First in Mathematical Physics and has worked in information technology, software development and general management.

In 1992, he founded ETP, which is now one of the world's leading programme and project management companies. His project management method - Structured Project Management / The Ten Steps - has influenced a generation of project managers. In 2003 this method was used to plan and execute the Special Olympics World Games 2003, the world's biggest sporting event that year. His radical methods for shortening projects are in use by a growing band of devotees. His experience covers projects around the world; he has taught project management in Europe, North America, South America and the Far East.

Fergus is the author of six books, both fiction and non-fiction:

• How To Run Successful Projects - The Silver Bullet, 3rd edition [2001]
• How To Run Successful High-Tech Project-Based Organizations [1999]
• How To Run Successful Projects In Web-Time [2000]
• Simply Brilliant - The Competitive Advantage of Common Sense, 2nd edition [2004]
• Call The Swallow [2002]
• How To Do A Great Job - And Go Home On Time [2005]

The first of these, sometimes known simply as 'The Silver Bullet' has become both a bestseller and a classic. Simply Brilliant - also a bestseller - was runner-up in the W H Smith Book Awards 2002. Call The Swallow was short listed for the 2002 Kerry Ingredients Irish Fiction Prize and nominated for the Hughes & Hughes / Sunday Independent Novel of the Year. His books have been translated into twelve languages.

Fergus has written on project management for The Sunday Business Post, Computer Weekly and The Wall Street Journal. He has lectured on project management at University College Cork, Trinity College Dublin, Bentley College, Boston University, the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business and on television for the National Technological University.

He has two children and lives with his partner in France.