Sharif was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, at the time of the Soviet Union's occupation of the country. The Soviet occupation, the Mujahideen Civil War and the Taliban's initial takeover of Kabul in 1996 forced Sharif (with his parents and siblings) to flee to many countries, including Pakistan, Iran and the Central Asian States. While the numerous journeys weren't easy, they had their advantage: the exposure enabled Sharif to learn about different cultures and speak numerous languages, including Pashto, Dari, Farsi, Urdu, Hindi, Russian, and some Arabic. After a long and dangerous voyage in late 1999, Sharif, along with his parents, claimed asylum in the UK. Although he'd come far away from the danger of the brutal wars, a new set of challenges presented themselves; chief among them was the language. But Sharif knew he had to learn English and catch up on his education. He committed to studying during the day and worked at night (in factories or as a pizza delivery driver). The hard work paid off: he gained undergraduate and master's degrees in Law from The University of Northampton and UCL, respectively, and a PhD in the United States' Middle Eastern Policy from Durham University. While he learned to love the UK and adopted it as a second home, his love for his native country has never diminished. He has authored several articles and two acclaimed books on Afghanistan: "The Lone Leopard", a novel set in Afghanistan, and "America in Afghanistan", published by Bloomsbury Publishing House. His passion, linguistic skills and in-depth knowledge of the Middle East and South Asia, as well as his postgraduate training from one of the most prestigious schools in London, have enabled Sharif to be part of some major projects by established production houses, including The Millennium Media' war movie and Critic Choice award nominee The Outpost, CBC Films/Lionsgate's action thriller film American Assassin, Channel 5's television movie Agatha and The Curse of Ishtar, Netflix's political thriller series The Diplomat, BBC's BAFTA Awards winner detective drama series Shetland, the Emmy Award-winning series Homeland, Fox's Drama series Deep State, Apple's thriller Disclaimer, Canal+'s French multi-awards winner series The Bureau, Channel 4's the Royal Television Society-UK winner series No Offence, ITV's longest-running police series The Bill and SKY's series Strike Back.