Mark O'Shea is a zoologist, a herpetologist, an author, a speaker, and a television host. He is a consultant curator of reptiles at West Midland Safari Park and a professor of herpetology at the University of Wolverhampton. Since 1986, he has undertaken 10 expeditions to Papua New Guinea. He was the deputy head of a team based out of Victor Valley College in California that conducted the first herpetofaunal survey of Timor-Leste between 2009 and 2014. O'Shea has presented a number of snake-themed television shows for the Discovery Channel, BBC, and ITV, including four seasons of O'Shea's Great Adventure on Animal Planet/Discovery Channel.

He's also worked for the Royal Geographical Society, Operation Raleigh, Raleigh Executive, and Discovery Expeditions on a range of herpetological field initiatives. A Handbook to the Snakes of Papua New Guinea is one of five publications written by O'Shea. He resides in the English county of Shropshire.