Paul Hamlyn founded Octopus Books Limited in 1971. The company published illustrated non-fiction books with mass-market appeal, a strategy which had been successful for Hamlyn's earlier publishing venture, Hamlyn Publishing.
The company expanded and became the Octopus Publishing Group in 1979. In 1985 the Group acquired the Heinemann Group, bringing many distinguished novelists from the backlists of Heinemann and Secker and Warburg. It also brought Heinemann Educational Books and Ginn and Company, making Octopus Britain's largest educational publishing group. Hamlyn bought his old company, Hamlyn Publishing, back in 1986. Mandarin Paperbacks was launched in 1987.
When publishing conglomorate Reed International bought the Octopus Publishing Group in 1987, Paul Hamlyn continued as chairman of Octopus while becoming the largest individual shareholder in Reed. Hamlyn continued his acquisition program for Octopus in the 1980s, acquiring Methuen, Eyre and Spottiswoode, George Philip, and fifty percent of Book Club Associates. A management buyout in August 1998 saw the restoration of the Octopus Publishing Group, which became part of Hachette in November 2001.
