Combat-decorated Marine, best-selling author, founder of a small business, host of a nationally syndicated radio show, inventor with three U.S. patents and former candidate for the U.S. Senate, Oliver L. North or  "Ollie," as he prefers to be called, was born in San Antonio, Texas, and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.

He served 22 years as a U.S. Marine. His awards for service in combat include the silver star, the bronze star for valor and two purple hearts for wounds he received in action.

Assigned to the National Security Council staff in the Reagan administration, North was involved in planning the rescue of 804 students on the island of Grenada and played a major role in the daring capture of the hijackers of the Cruise ship Achille Lauro. After helping to plan the U.S. raid on Maummar Qaddaffi's terrorist bases in Libya, he was targeted by Abu Nidal, the world's deadliest assassin.

North's involvement in the Reagan administration's support for the anti-communist freedom fighters in Nicaragua and the rescue of American hostages held in Beirut, Lebanon, catapulted North into international prominence.

North has lectured at Oxford, Cambridge and Trinity colleges and numerous American universities. He is conservative, controversial and committed but retains the charismatic demeanor that electrified the world during the so-called Iran-contra hearings and in his 1994 campaign for the U.S. Senate.

Articulate and outspoken, North believes that "we can disagree without being disagreeable". His columns have generated acclaim internationally and will give the readers an opinion they can argue with or applaud.

North's controversial and provocative prose has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Times and many other newspapers across the country.