Motivational SpeakersChris Ryan MM is a Former SAS Soldier and Best-Selling Author.
Born in 1961, in a village near Newcastle, at the age of 16, Chris attached himself unofficially to ‘C’ Squadron of 23rd Special Air Service, the territorial regiment based at Prudhoe, in Northumberland.
Over the next seven years, he covered hundreds of miles of moor and mountain on training exercises.
In 1984, Chris Ryan joined the 22nd SAS, the regular Regiment, and completed three tours which took him to many parts of the world on operations and exercises. He also worked extensively in the counter-terrorism field, serving as an assaulter, sniper and finally, Sniper Team Commander on the Special Projects team.
Chris Ryan made history with the “longest escape and evasion by a SAS trooper or any other soldier”. The award of the Military Medal recognised this achievement.
Chris spent his final two years in the SAS training and finding potential recruits. He subsequently left the SAS in 1994.
Bravo Two Zero
Chris Ryan was a member of the SAS eight-man team chosen for the ‘Bravo Two Zero’ mission. The team were dropped behind Iraqi enemy lines during the 1st Gulf War in 1991. The mission was to report on enemy positions and call in aircraft to take out any worthwhile targets, as well as destroy fibre-optic communication lines.
The patrol’s signaller was initially given the wrong codes for the radio, making it useless. Their emergency TACBE radio devices, which were thought to be able to communicate with coalition aircraft in extreme circumstances, were almost 250 miles out of their operational range. During their second day in the observation post, their position was compromised by a local farmer driving a bulldozer. Throughout the ensuing few days, several firefights with the enemy occurred in their attempt to escape. The patrol remained intact and without casualties until they were inadvertently split into two groups when they lost sight of each other during the night.
Out of the initial eight SAS soldiers, three of the team were killed in action, and four were captured. Only Chris escaped.
During his escape, Ryan trekked over 200 miles in eight days on foot, in both the freezing cold and baking sun, and often in full view of enemy patrols. He suffered sleep deprivation, starvation, diarrhoea, severe dehydration and other such physical ailments. This harrowing but heroic experience was recounted later in his book ‘The One That Got Away’, which became an immediate best-seller in 1995 and subsequently the basis of a film by Paul Greengrass.
Books include:
The One That Got Away, Strike Back, Ultimate Weapon, Blackout, The Increment, Greed, Ultimate Survival Guide, Land of Fire, The Watchman, The Hit List, Chris Ryan’s SAS Fitness Book, Tenth Man Down, The Kremlin Device, Zero Option, Stand By, Stand By.
Chris is also the author of the highly popular ‘Alpha Force’ and ‘Code Red’ series for teenagers.
His most recent non-fiction title, The History of the SAS, was published by Coronet. His thriller, Outcast, was published by Bonnier.
Broadcaster and Keynote Speaker:
Chris was the co-devisor and military consultant for ‘Ultimate Force’, a military action series for ITV1 starring Ross Kemp.
In 2010, his book Strikeback became a prime-time series for SKY One.
As a broadcaster, Chris has presented:
- Hunting Chris Ryan
- How Not To Die
- Terror Alert: Could You Survive?
- Britain’s Toughest Families
- Elite World Cops
- No Man Left Behind
As an inspirational, motivational military speaker, Chris can focus on topics such as teamwork, leadership, and motivation.
