Colgan was born in London while his father was an officer with the Metropolitan Police Force. Colgan snr later took his family back to his native Cornwall in 1963. Stevyn was educated at Blackwater Infants School near Truro, St Marys School Penzance, St Pauls County Primary School, Penzance, and Helston Comprehensive School, Helston. Although accepted for an arts degree course at Cornwall Polytechnic, he chose to join the Metropolitan Police Force in 1980. In an interview, he stated that this was as the result of a bet with his father.
Colgan served in Hillingdon, Westminster and Ealing Borough stations as well as with Clubs and Vice, IT Training and the force's Examinations Unit. In his later career he became a training designer and a problem solving advisor where he was involved in getting the police, the community and other statutory agencies (such as local authorities, Fire Service etc.) to work together to solve long-term community disorder and crime issues.
He was awarded the Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in 1993 and the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal in 2003. He saw active service during many of the public disorders of the 1980s including the Miners' Strike, the riots in Brixton, Southall and Broadwater Farm. He was also present at many large scale public events including Live Aid, the Notting Hill Carnival, the visit of Pope John Paul II and the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. He was one of the first officers on scene at the Provisional IRA bomb attack on RAF Uxbridge in 1981 for which he received a commendation for professionalism.
He retired in February 2010 after completing 30 years' service.
Colgan's first published illustration work was for the book I Remember: Reflections on Fishing and Childhood (Summersdale 1995) by Joe Cowley, Frederick Forsyth, Roger Daltrey, Bernard Cribbins, George Melly and others. The book raised money for the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
Later that same year, he painted the front cover to Aaron Jones' self-published novel The Wayfarer: Bilbabalbabul.
It was not until 2006 that he again drew professionally, this time a set of illustrations for use on posters, banners and catalogues for the Autumn National Children's Book Fair organised by Scholastic Books Ltd.
In November 2008, he illustrated several features for the QI 'F' Annual 2009.
In June 2009 he was asked to create a new mascot for the 30th anniversary of Plain English Campaign. The character is called Ted the Shred and is headlining a global campaign to see an end to official use of gobbledegook.
He designed the 'Swandage' logo for the annual Alt Wycombe Fashion Show for photographer Mark Page (Photos With Attitude). The logo has appeared in Bizarre magazine.
In November 2009 he provided four pages of illustrations for the 'Glossoplegia' section of the 2010 QI 'G' Annual.
In 2010 he illustrated 'My Dog's from Zog', a children's book by Terry Bergin and printed by Daisy Gili, granddaughter of Reynolds Stone.
He was commissioned to create four new artworks for the 'Humans' episode of QI Series H, first shown on 9th October 2010 in the extended QIXL episode.
In November 2010 the QI 'H' Annual will feature eight pages of Colgan's artwork illustrating features co-written by himself, Justin Pollard and John Lloyd. Faber and Faber are also releasing a compilation volume of the 'E', 'F' and 'G' Annuals in November 2010 with a brand new cover by Colgan.
He is a member of the Professional cartoonists' Organisation and the international Federation of Cartoonists' Organisations.
Colgan's first break into writing came with his 1997 pantomime Beeping Slooty, which was performed by many amateur dramatics groups and schools throughout the UK. He directed the very first performances by the Totteridge Arts and Drama Society in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.
In 1998 Colgan, James Murphy, Sarwat Chadda, Dan Schaffer, Jeremy Elford and Kelvin Cox attempted to launch a new independent British comics imprint called Bigger Betty. Its purpose was to provide a platform for new British artists and writers. Despite good sales and excellent reviews, funding problems caused the imprint to fold after just one issue.
In 2001, he was a runner-up in the prestigious BBC Travel Writing Awards organised by BBC Wildlife Magazine.
Also in 2001, he was a successful entrant to the Ottakar's Bookshops Local History Writers' competition and had his essay, Arch Rivals, published in the Ottakar's Local History: High Wycombe Book.
In October 2008, his first major work, Joined-Up Thinking, was published by Pan Macmillan Books. It carried cover endorsements from Stephen Fry and from John Mitchinson, one of the founders of Quite Interesting Ltd and co-author (with John Lloyd) of the bestselling The Book of General Ignorance.
During the 2009 US Election, Colgan was commissioned by the Times newspaper to create a unique 'round' featuring the main players: Barack Obama, John McCain, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. The Sarah Palindrome was published in the Times Online edition.
In November 2008, several written pieces appeared in the QI 'F' Annual 2009 plus an illustration of comedian Sean Lock.
The paperback edition of Joined-Up Thinking was published 18 September 2009.
In 2010 the Cornish Language Fellowship (Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek) and the Cornish Language Board (Kesva an Taves Kernewek) will publish a book of Cornish Faerie Stories written and illustrated by Colgan. The book will be published in both English and Cornish language editions and features modern interpretations of traditional tales plus several brand new stories by the author.
He is currently writing a book on Problem Solving and some material for the 2011 QI 'H' Annual.
Joined-Up Thinking is concerned with interconnectedness. While never intended to be anything more than a light-hearted ramble through a series of connected and fascinating trivia, Colgan is keen to point out that even the most unlikely connections can be made. Each chapter of the book or Round takes the reader on a journey linking one fact to another and another until finally returning to the first fact in the chapter. He then links all of the facts in the book by way of a Great Big Joined-Up Index in which connections are shown between facts in different Rounds.
He states that the idea came to him when researching Frigyes Karinthy's and Stanley Milgram's experiments with the concept of Six Degrees of Separation.
Colgan is a keen songwriter and plays guitar and drums.
He is a collector of vinyl art toys, signed books and a passionate Doctor Who fan. He has a long-held ambition to one day write an episode for the show and came close in the early 1980s when one of his scripts was optioned by then producer John Nathan-Turner. However, with a change of Doctor, it was never made.
He has a keen interest in the sciences and in evolutionary science in particular. He is a vocal atheist and has written a number of times on the subject. He is also a champion of Darwinism and has written several pieces on creationism, and why he is so critical of it.
His professional name is the Cornish spelling of Stephen. His father's name is the Cornish spelling of Michael.
In recent years he has been a visiting lecturer in metacognition at St Bartholemew's Hospital and the Royal London Hospital (known locally as Barts and the London and affiliated to Queen Mary University of London). He also works closely with the training company Sixth Sense. He holds the Certificate in Education from the University of Hertfordshire. In 1999 he was awarded the Diploma in plain English by Plain English Campaign.
He grows much of his own fruit and vegetables and sources the majority of meat from organic or cruelty-free sources. Between the ages of 16-18 he worked in the kitchens of Italian chef Salvatore Pisano and has a good working knowledge of cookery and fine dining.
