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"Born 1950, Cheshire; son of Gordon Pollock, traditional claypipe manufacturer. Educated at Thorn Grove Primary School, Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire. Eleven-plus failure and no-hoper.
Woods Lane Secondary Modern School. Fifteen-plus transfer to Moseley Hall Grammar School, Cheadle, Cheshire; A-levels: maths, physics, chemistry - dropped maths for art (eventual grade E).
Foundation at Manchester College of Art and Design. BA First Class Honours, Manchester Polytechnic, 70-73. Royal College of Art, Master of Arts Degree 73-76. Honorary Degree of Doctor of Arts, Wolverhampton University, conferred 3 September 2001.
He has been freelancing for the last quarter century. He lived in London for twenty years, now lives as a recluse in Macclesfield on the edge of the Peak District with his wife: painter Helen Clapcott, and two children. He works mostly for magazines and newspapers and appears regularly in the "quality press".
He was recently commissioned to design four postage stamps - "Tales of Terror"- for the Royal Mail which were issued in May 1997 . "Work still finds me up 'ere..." says Pollock dribbling along the stem of an old clay pipe. "Work for anyone," he says, "even the taxman."
Now a bitter, pathetic creature, he says he's highly professional and underpaid and is worried his work is showing signs of Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome."