Richard Lyon is an electrical engineer, petroleum engineer and energy economist. He began his career as a pilot in the Royal Air Force before spending over twenty-five years in the oil and gas industry, holding senior operational and commercial roles in the UK, Norway, Azerbaijan, Congo and Cameroon. He holds a BEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, an MEng in Petroleum Engineering, and an MSc in Energy Economics. His master's research focused on quantifying the degree of optimism in institutional estimates of remaining oil reserves.

The Energy Trap grew from a conviction, formed over three decades of producing, managing and studying energy, that the gap between energy policy and physical reality has become dangerous - and that the public are perfectly able to acquire and apply the knowledge needed to challenge the policies being made in their name.