The British citizen & former teacher and cannabis trafficker Dennis Howard Marks was born on 13th August, 1945 in Kenfig Hill, near Bridgend, Wales. Howard Marks studied from the Garw Grammar School in his village Pontycymer and in 1964 he attended Balliol College, Oxford where he completed his B.A. in Natural Science, Physics. Then Marks joined the University of London in 1967 to study Physics (Grad. Inst P.) and again went to Balliol, Oxford between 1968 and 1969 to study History & Philosophy of Science (Dip. H.Ph. Sc.).

Marks began dealing drugs during his post graduation course in philosophy at Oxford and soon imported hashish in large quantities to America & Europe while touring with rock bands. His academic life began losing its allure. During his narcotic smuggling career, Marks apparently refused to indulge into high potency narcotic drugs and refrained form violence.

Howard Marks married English-born author Judy Marks The couple has3 children; one among them is the British barrister & author Amber Marks and the other two are Francesca Marks born on November 1980 & Patrick Marks born on November 1986. Marks also has a daughter named Myfanwy from his five year relationship with Rosie Lewis. Marks was deported with his wife from their residence in Majorca, Spain to Miami, Florida. They were imprisoned for 2 years and were separated from their children in Europe.

In 1980s, Howard Marks had 43 aliases, 89 phone lines, and 25 companies trading all over the world. Recording studios, bars, offshore banks were money-legalizing vehicles which served his core activity of drug distribution. At the peak of the career, Marks was trafficking drugs up to 30 tons from Pakistan & Thailand to Canada & America and he had connections within organizations such as the CIA, the IRA, MI6 & and of course the Mafia.

After many years, Howard Marks was convicted on appeal of the Drug Enforcement Agency and was sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment at the United States Federal Penitentiary, Terre Haute. However, Marks was released on bail in 1995 after serving 7 years of sentence.

After his release from jail, Marks has published the best-seller autobiography, Mr. Nice under Secker and Warburg in 1996 which has been successfully translated into different languages. Howard has also compiled a collection called The Howard Marks Book of Dope Stories Vintage in 2001 & Señor Nice: Straight Life From Wales to South America. Marks too appeared in the in the UK documentary Stoned in Suburbia which was aired on Sky4. His ex-wife Judy Marks’s autobiography Mr. Nice and Mrs Marks published by Ebury Press in 2006 also covers the ups and downs of their married life. Judy Marks presently lives at Palma in Spain separated from Marks with two of their children.

In 1997, Marks stood for election to UK Parliament for the legalization of cannabis. Marks contested 4 seats Neath, Norwich North, Norwich South & Southampton Test at the same time. It was over 1% of average voting which led the Legalise Cannabis Alliance’s formation in 1999 by the cannabis and human rights campaigner Alun Buffry.

Marks also had a role as a customs officer in Ecstasy which was based on Irvine Welsh’s no.1 bestselling book. He has also acted in "Wish You Were Here", "The Falconer" and other movies and TV serials.

Marks presently lives in Leeds, UK.