Born in England in 1956, Ajahn Amaro received a BSc. Hons. in Psychology and Physiology from the University of London in 1977. Spiritual searching then led him to Thailand, where he went to Wat Pah Nanachat, a Forest Tradition monastery established for Western disciples of Thai meditation master Ajahn Chah, who ordained him as a bhikkhu in 1979. Soon afterwards he returned to England and joined Ajahn Sumedho at the newly established Chithurst Monastery. He resided for many years at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, making trips to California every year during the 1990s.

In June 1996 he established Abhayagiri Monastery in Redwood Valley, California, where he was co-Abbot with Ajahn Pasanno until 2010. He then returned to Amaravati, on Ajahn Sumedho’s invitation, to become Abbot of this large monastic community.

He has authored or co-authored about 30 books, all for free distribution. Amongst these are: Finding the Missing Peace~ a primer of Buddhist meditation (2011); Roots and Currents ~ collected essays & articles, 1991-2014 (2017); The Breakthrough ~ Buddhist Meditation as a Means of Liberation (2017); Less is More ~ Frugality, Generosity & Renunciation (2020); Forgiving and Compassion (2021); Catastrophe/Apostrophe – Reflections on Dependent Origination/Cessation (2021); Mind is What Matters – the Phenomenological Teaching of the Buddha (2021); Copper Isle Miles – A Pilgrimage in Sri Lanka (2022).

He is also a cousin of the late Buddhist scholar and President of the Pali Text Society, I.B. Horner.