Jim Kay was born in a small town called Coal Aston in Derbyshire, England on 4th April 1974. Spending his childhood during the 1980's, growing up in the mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, near the famous Sherwood Forest, Jim Kay completed two year General Art and Design course in Mansfield.

It was during his school years that Jim Kay first developed his deep passion for drawing, often inspired by natural history and the local countryside.

After completing his secondary education, Jim Kay enrolled into the Harrow Campus at the University of Westminster in London, England in the autumn of 1994.

Graduating with a BA Honours degree in Illustration and Visual Communication in 1997, Jim Kay immediately went to work as freelance illustrator for magazines, before moving into projects which included archive work and book illustration.

Immediately after graduating, Jim Kay started as a freelance illustrator, completing work for magazines like the Soroptimist Weekly.

The work was demanding, low paid and involved ongoing tight deadlines with Jim Kay taking on other jobs such as stocktaking carpets, packing commercial calendars and filing medical records at both the Northwick Park Hospital and St. Mark's Hospital in Harrow, England.

Around 2005, Jim Kay used his experience with medical records and interest in the natural world to pivot into other work, allowing him to remain in the art world even though he stopped doing any illustrative or artistic work.

• Tate Britain: Spending two years in the library and archives, Jim Kay handled and organised the personal papers, letters and sketches of iconic British artists like Paul Nash and Stanley Spencer.
• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Jim Kay later worked as the Assistant Curator for the Illustrations Collection, where he immersed himself in the historical botanical drawings, Indian art collections and illustrated manuscripts from the era of British global exploration.

After a conversation with a friend who challenged him to stop merely criticising other people's art and try making his own again, Jim Kay decided to pick up his pencils.

Focusing his energy into a solo exhibition at the Richmond Gallery in 2008, Kim Kay showcased his ideas for children's books. During the exhibition, a publisher noticed his work at the show, which directly restarted his freelance illustration career, eventually leading to his award winning work.

Following his 2008 breakthrough gallery exhibition, a publisher from Walker Books approached Jim Kay with a manuscript of 'A Monster Calls', by Patrick Ness.

Jim Kay then spent the following months developing a dark, heavily textured aesthetic for the illustrations of 'A Monster Calls', between 2010 and early 2011, leading up to the novel's publication by Walker Books on 2nd May 2011.

Shortly after receiving the 2012 Kate Greenaway Medal for his work on 'A Monster Calls', Jim Kay was chosen by J.K. Rowling to reimagine the universe of Harry Potter. After Jim Kay's agent received a surprise phone call from Bloomsbury Children's Books offering him the commission, the announcement was made in December 2013.

Jim Kay spent around two years working in secret, reimagining and designing the characters, locations and magical creatures of the Harry Potter universe before the first book, using the illustrations of Jim Kay was published.

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: First published on 26th June 1997, the release of the book using the illustrations by Jim Kay was released on 6th October 2015
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: The second novel in the Harry Potter series, it was first published on 2nd July 1998 with the release, using the illustrations of Jim Kay, being released on 4th October 2016.
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: First published on 8th July 1999, it was the third book in the Harry Potter series which was released on 3rd October 2017, using the reimagined illustrations of Jim Kay.
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: The fourth book of the Harry Potter series was published on 8th July 2000 and released again as an Illustrated edition on 8th October 2019, using the illustrations of Jim Kay.
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: The final book which was released using the illustrations of Jim Kay, which were co-illustrated with Neil Packer, it was first released on 21st June 2003, being released 11th October 2022 with the reimagined illustrations of the Harry Potter world.

After spending a decade dedicated to the reimagining of the Harry Potter world, Jim Kay stepped down from the franchise stepping down in late 2022.

Jim Kay focused on operating a collaborative creative studio called 'Creepy Scrawlers', alongside his partner, Louise Clark. Working between London and East Sussex, Jim Kay and Louise Clark focus on niche projects that encompass illustration, printmaking, textile design and bespoke fashion.