Charles Cumming was born in Scotland, educated at Ludgrove School, Eton College and the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated with 1st Class Honours in English Literature. In 1995, Charles was approached for recruitment by the United Kingdom's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), an inspiration for a number of his books.

Cumming's novels have been translated into fourteen languages. His work is published in the United Kingdom by Harper Collins, in the United States by St Martin's Press, in Spain by Salamandra and in Germany by Goldmann.

He is one of the trustees of The Pierce Loughran Memorial Scholarship fund which provides tuition fees for the Yeats Summer School in Sligo, Ireland. He is also the founder and President of the Jose Raul Capablanca Memorial Chess Society.