Conan Christopher O'Brien showed of an interest in comedy at an early age and was elected as president of the Harvard humor magazine, the Harvard Lampoon, for two times. After graduating from the institution, he worked as a writer for the sketch comedy series "Not Necessarily the News". Beginning from 1989 to 1991, he wrote for the hit NBC comedy show "Saturday Night Live". This was followed by the animated FOX series "The Simpsons", for which he served as a writer as well supervising producer.

Never working in front of the camera before, O'Brien was surprisingly chosen by NBC to replace David Letterman as host of "Late Night" after the host departed and moved to CBS for his own late night show. A first-timer in the field, it was not until four years later that O'Brien was signed for a lucrative five-year contract. He thus remained in the show for a total of 16 years, from September 1993 to February 2009.

In 2009, he filled in the host seat of "The Tonight Show" which was left empty by Jay Leno. It didn't last long though as he ended his contract with NBC the following year and signed his own show with TBS, entitled "Conan".

In addition to serving as talk show host, O'Brien has also become host and co-host of numerous prestigious awards shows. Already becoming a household name and establishing his own fan base, he was confident to give hand at acting. He's starred in such movies, as "Vanilla Sky", "Bewitched", and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" in addition to guest starring on TV shows, like "Sesame Street", "The Osbournes", "The Office", "30 Rock", "How I Met Your Mother", "Arrested Development" as well as "Family Guy".

O'Brien was born on April 18, 1963 in Brookline, Massachusetts. He and wife Elizabeth Ann 'Liza' Powel tied the knot in 2002. They have two children together; daughter Neve (b. 2003) and son Beckett (b. 2005).