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David Van Reybrouck is a cultural historian, archaeologist and writer. He studied archaeology and philosophy in Leuven, holds a Master's degree from Cambridge University and obtained his PhD in Leiden with a thesis on the interaction between archaeology and primatology. He was also the scientific co-ordinator of the Archives of European Archaeology, a European research network, and a co-founder of the British Academy"s Archaeology of Zoos network.

Van Reybrouck's academic interests include the history of the man-animal relationship in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, covering the fields of science, archaeology, anthropology and biology and also literary and popular portrayals. Van Reybrouck is also active as a writer, poet and publicist.

His book, De plaag: het stille knagen van schrijvers, termieten en Zuid-Afrika (2001) was awarded the prize for the best first novel in 2002. David Van Reybrouck also works as a freelance writer for De Morgen newspaper and is now working on a second novel. From September to December 2006 he was the first writer-in-residence at the new Schrijvershuis at the Spui in Amsterdam