Born in Zimbabwe in 1954, Richard Hudson was educated in Zimbabwe and England and trained at the Wimbledon School of Art. He is the British Scenography Commissioner to OISTAT (Organisation Internationale des Scenografes, Techniciens et Architects de Theatre) and a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI).

In 1988 he won a Laurence Olivier Award for the season at the Old Vic. Hudson’s set designs for The Lion King have won numerous awards including a Tony in 1988, the Critics Circle Design Award in 2000, and both the Ovations Award and the Hollywood NAACP Award for Best Set Design in 2001.

He has designed sets and costumes for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, the Young Vic and The Gate, London. He has designed operas for the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Metropolitan Opera and in Zurich, Munich, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Venice, Florence, Turin, Houston and Washington. In 2003 he won The Gold Medal for Set Design at the Prague Quadrienale for his designs for Tamerlano at the Teatro alla Pergola in Florence. In 2005 he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Surrey.