Andrew Copson was born in Warwickshire, England in 1980. He was educated at an independent school which he describes as secular in its outlook. From a working-class background, he went to the school as part of the government Assisted Places Scheme. Andrew was brought up entirely without religion; as well as having non-religious parents, neither his grandparents nor his great-grandparents were religious and never had been. At secondary school, he first encountered Christianity, but rejected it when he did not see any truth in it. Andrew studied Classics and Ancient and Modern History at the University of Oxford and is an expert on humanism who has written widely on the subject. He is regularly invited to appear on TV and radio programmes representing humanism and the Humanist movement.

Andrew has been the Chief Executive of Humanists UK for ten years since 2010, responsible for day-to-day management of the organisation as a whole, and management of the staff team. Prior to that he worked across educational and public affairs roles within the same organisation.

Andrew is also the President of Humanists International – the umbrella body bringing the global humanist movement together to pursue human rights at an international level. He joined the Humanists International Board in 2010 and has been serving as President since 2015. As well as all this, Andrew is a trustee of the Religious Education Council, a former director of the European Humanist Federation (EHF) and former head of the Humanists International delegation to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.