Chris Ryan was born near Newcastle in 1961. He joined the SAS in 1984 and was a member for ten years. During the Gulf War, Chris was the only member of an eight-man team to escape from Iraq, of which three colleagues were killed and four captured. It was the longest escape and evasion in the history of the SAS. For his last two years he was selecting and training potential recruits for the SAS.

He is a best selling author and lectures in business motivation and security.