Aljos Farjon is a renowned botanist and recipient of several international awards for his work on conifers, on which he has published 11 books and more than 100 papers and articles. He is also an accomplished botanical artist, illustrating many of his books and papers. He worked successively at the Universities of Utrecht and Oxford and at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew until his official retirement; he continues at Kew as an Honorary Research Associate. In recent years, Aljos has shifted his research interests to the extraordinary wealth of ancient oaks in his adopted country, England. His Ancient Oaks in the English Landscape was named ‘Reference Book of the Year’ in the Garden Media Guild Awards 2017.