Harauld Hughes was born in Cardiff in 1931. In 1932, his mother sent him to London to fend for himself. He remained there until the outbreak of the Second World War, when he was evacuated to Suffolk, despite his offers to enlist. Hughes returned to London in 1945 and lived in the Elephant and Castle. His experiences as a teenage landlord informed much of his later work. He wrote his first play, Platform, in 1960, but it was his fourth play, Roost, written, unusually, before his third play, Roast, which made his reputation. He remains one of the UK’s most garlanded playwrights. He was awarded the Euripides Prize for short-form drama and the Goethe Garter, and was one of the first writers-in-residence at Costa Coffee, albeit in an unofficial capacity.

He was married to the theologian and chef Lady Virginia Lovilocke.

He died in 2006.