Ulrich Knellwolf was born in August 1942, grew up in the German-speaking part of Switzerland and read theology at the Universities of Basel, Bonn and Zurich. His doctoral thesis focussed on the ‘narrative theology’ of Jeremias Gotthelf, the important nineteenth-century Swiss author and Protestant priest. 

Knellwolf has been an ordained priest since 1969, from 1984 to 1996 in the renowned Predigerkirche in Zurich. Since then he has been much involved in social welfare.

Knellwolf has always combined academic work and practical theology and has published many books in the field of theology. He has become a familiar face on Swiss radio and TV and has won awards for his distinguished work.

In 1992, he added another string to his bow: his first crime thriller, Roma Termini, was an immediate success and many fictional works followed. Death in Sils Maria is perhaps his best-known set of stories.