The best-selling author was known for a number of crime thrillers, including The Day of the Jackal, which was recently adapted into a Sky TV series.
He was described as “one of the world’s greatest thriller writers”, in a tribute.
He was surrounded by his family as he died at home on Monday morning.
Day of the Jackal author Frederick Forsyth dies aged 86
A statement by Jonathan Lloyd, Forsyth’s agent, said: “We mourn the passing of one of the world’s greatest thriller writers.
“Only a few weeks ago I sat with him as we watched a new and moving documentary of his life – In My Own Words, to be released later this year on BBC1 – and was reminded of an extraordinary life, well lived.
“After serving as one of the youngest ever RAF pilots, he turned to journalism, using his gift for languages in German, French and Russian to become a foreign correspondent in Biafra.
“Appalled at what he saw and using his experience during a stint as a secret service agent, he wrote his first and perhaps most famous novel, The Day of the Jackal (1972), and instantly became a global bestselling author.
“He went on to write more than 25 books (many of which were made into films) that have sold over 75 million copies.
“He will be greatly missed by his family, his friends, all of us at Curtis Brown and of course his millions of fans around the world – though his books will of course live on forever.”
Forsyth was born in Kent, and was best known for various crime thriller novels, such as The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File.
He has sold millions of copies of his books and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1997 New Year Honours list for services to literature.
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Forsyth has been married twice, first to former model Carole Cunningham between 1973 and 1988, and then to Sandy Molloy since 1994 until her death in 2024.
Forsyth previously resided in a manor house in Hertfordshire before moving to Buckinghamshire in 2010.
He is survived by two sons, Stuart and Shane, whom he had with Cunningham.
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