Rick has been a radio presenter with RTE since 2001; on RTE 2FM, The Poetry Programme and The Book Show on RTE Radio 1, and on RTE Gold. Since 2025 he has been presenter of RTE’s weeknight Arts show Arena on RTE Radio 1.
He runs The Rick O’Shea Book Club – Ireland’s largest book club with over 40,000 members.
He conducts public author interviews across the year round including, in recent years, at Listowel Writers Week, CÚirt, Ennis Book Club Festival, International Literature Festival Dublin, Dalkey Book Festival, and Dublin Book Festival.
He has been literary curator of the UCD Festival, curator for the Waterford Writers Weekend, and a books columnist for the Irish Independent.
Rick has presented the International Dublin Literary Award ceremony, CBI Book Of The Year Awards, RTE Francis McManus Short Story Competition Ceremony and has co-presented the Irish Book Awards on RTE One TV.
He is part of the voting academy for the An Post Irish Book Awards, and has been a judge for the Bookseller UK and Ireland Young Adult Book Prize, the Costa Book Awards, and judging chair at the Dalkey Literary Awards. He has also been a judge at the Dublin Fringe Theatre Festival and an ambassador for Irish Book Week.
He has had epilepsy since he was 16 and has been the National Patron of Epilepsy Ireland since 2006. In 2022 he became a board member of Fighting Words NI.
In 2012 he won the so far only ever Irish series of Celebrity Mastermind. It is the thing he is most proud of in his professional life and he doesn’t mind you knowing that.
Current events are at his Linktree, and you can contact him by mailing rick@rte.ie
