Bill O’Reilly grew up in Levittown, New York, in a traditional Irish Catholic family and attended Catholic schools throughout his education, graduating from Chaminade High School in New York in 1967. After graduating from Marist College, he taught history and English at Monsignor Edward Pace High School in Florida.

He later earned a master’s degree in journalism from Boston University and a master’s in public administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. O’Reilly began his career in local television and went on to work for CBS Evening News and ABC World News Tonight before becoming anchor of the nationally syndicated program Inside Edition.

When FOX News launched in 1996, O’Reilly took on the fledgling network’s 8:00pm slot. The show—first called The O’Reilly Report, later renamed The O’Reilly Factor—started with virtually no audience. Within four years, it became the #1 cable news program in America and held that top position for an astounding 16 consecutive years.

He is also a prolific author, publishing more than 30 books, with 21 reaching #1 on The New York Times nonfiction bestseller list, an all-time record.

Unabashedly Catholic, Bill O’Reilly reigns as one of the most watched and widely read figures in modern media history.