Theo Koll is one of the best-known faces on German television. Born in Bensberg near Cologne in 1958, Theo Koll studied politics, modern history, sociology and constitutional law at the universities of Bonn, London, Paris and Hamburg, while working as a freelancer for Deutschlandfunk, der journalist and Bayerischer Rundfunk. He completed an internship at NDR and worked as a freelancer for the programmes Extra III and PlusMinus from 1987 to 1988. From 1988 he worked as a television editor at NDR and as Hamburg correspondent for the news programmes Tagesschau and Tagesthemen. During this time, Koll also worked abroad in Washington and Tokyo. In 1990, Koll joined ZDF as a television editor and reporter in the Bonn studio. After three years, he became head of the ZDF studio in London. From September 2001 to July 2003 he presented the programme 'Koll neunzehnZehn' on 3sat and since April 2001 he has also been a presenter and deputy director of Frontal21. Since October 2006 he has also presented the 3sat theatre magazine 'Foyer'. From 2009 to 2014 he was head of the main editorial department for politics and current affairs and presenter of the programme 'auslandsjournal'. From 2014 to March 2019 Theo Koll was head of the ZDF studio in Paris and until 2023 head of the ZDF Haupstadtstudio in Berlin. Today, he is a political expert for the ZDF Morgenmagazin and hosts a Phoenix talk show. Theo Koll has received numerous awards throughout his career. In 2005, for example, he was awarded the Bavarian Television Prize for the "outstanding overall editorial achievement of Frontal 21". In 2006, Theo Koll was awarded the Hanns Joachim Friedrichs Prize for Television Journalism, together with Frontal 21 editor-in-chief Claus Richter. The following year he was awarded both the Golden Prometheus by the media magazine V.i.S.d.P. and the Goldene Kamera, the most prestigious award in German television.