John Osmond was brought up in Abergavenny. He started his career as a reporter for the Yorkshire Post, before moving back to Wales to work for the Western Mail and later HTV Wales. He was part of establishing the programme Wales this Week and produced a number of documentary series including The Divided Kingdom for Channel 4. He was Deputy Editor for Wales on Sunday from 1988 until 1990, when he formed his own television company, Agenda Productions. In 1996 he became director the the Institute of Welsh Affairs, and retired in 2013. John also stood as Plaid Cymru’s candidate in Preseli Pembrokeshire for the Assembly election in 2007.