After graduating in modern languages in the UK, Richard Trim specialized in linguistics with a PhD from the University of London. He has lectured in modern languages and linguistics at a number of universities around Europe, including Robert Gordon University (Scotland), Brussels Free State University (Belgium), Fribourg University (Switzerland) and Aix-Marseille University (France). He is currently Professor of Linguistics at the University of Toulon (France) since 2013.

His main field of research is in metaphor studies with a particular interest in comparative and historical linguistics. He has developed theories on conceptual networking in European languages which were proposed in two monographs: Metaphor Networks. The Comparative Evolution of Figurative Language (2007) and Metaphor and the Historical Evolution of Conceptual Mapping (2011), both published by Palgrave Macmillan. He has also published widely in the field of metaphor studies in relation to literary and political discourse with the application of corpus-based research.