Tom Karen

Tom Karen was born in Vienna in 1926. His home, however, was in Brno, a prosperous industrial city, 120 miles from Prague in what was then Czechoslovakia. Following the rise of Nazi Germany, his family had to flee their home country, settlig in the UK via Belgium, France and Spain.

A creative at heart, Tom trained in product design at Central Saint Martins and went on to work at Ford and Hotpoint before taking over Ogle Design. It was at Ogle where Tom reached the top of the design game, inventing the Chopper bike, Marble Run, Scimitar GTE and the Bond Bug, amongst many other cult transport vehicles, toys and games loved by kids the world over.

Tom lives and designs in Cambridge. He has four children and seven grandchildren.