Born in Richmond Hill, Ontario, R. H. Thomson is one of Canada’s brightest talents. He has been nominated for four Genie Awards (winning one in 1983 for If You Could See What I Hear), eight Gemini Awards (winning one in 1989 for Glory Enough for All and a second in 2003 for a presentation of his play The Lost Boys on CBC News Sunday), and won a Dora Award for Hand to Hand in 1983.

One of his first on-screen roles was in 1977's The Newcomers. From there, he went on to do many plays, movies, and series–-including Stranger in My Bed, The Lotus Eaters, Murder at My Door, Trudeau, Copenhagen, and Human Cargo; and hosted CBC's Man Alive from 1998 till 2001. He is also a director, directing projects for many of Canada’s well-known theatre venues and companies–-from CanStage to the National Arts Centre, to Theatre New Brunswick and Ship’s Company Theatre in Nova Scotia. He has also lectured at the Stratford Festival in Ontario. As well, he was one of the guests at the first annual Avonlea Convention (AvCon) in 2004.

R. H. is also a founding member of ShakespeareWorks, a Toronto-based organization devoted to bringing the works of William Shakespeare to Canadian students. In 2004, he directed their inaugural production: Romeo and Juliet.