Florian Werner was born in Berlin in 1971, but spent most of his childhood summers in the Bavarian countryside, where he was first exposed to the large domesticated ungulates known as cows. While being immediately fascinated by these serene and beautiful animals, it would take him more than a quarter of a century to put his fascination into words.

In the meantime, he finished high school, worked at a theatre, a nursing home and a tree nursery, studied American, British, and German literature in Germany and Scotland, and earned his PhD from the University of Tübingen.

He also wrote a collection of short stories, co-authored an adventure novel and published three books of non-fiction, on topics as diverse as millenarianism in hip-hop lyrics (Rapocalypse) and the history of human excrement (Dunkle Materie/Dark Matter). Finally, after 30 years of rumination, his book Die Kuh (Cow) was published to great acclaim by the German media. It was voted most original science book of the year in 2009. When he is not writing, Florian tours with his band Fön, plays soccer for the German national team of writers and returns to the Bavarian Alps as often as possible. He lives with his wife and daughter in Berlin.