Gardner was born on 31 July 1961. His father and mother, Robert Neil Gardner (1922–2010) and Evelyn Grace Rolleston (1923–2014), were both diplomats, [1] and when he was six he moved from the UK to the Hague in the Netherlands. In 1951, while second secretary at the British Embassy in Czechoslovakia, his father was expelled from the country for espionage activities after an incident in a prohibited military area where he was shot at. [2] [3] His grandfather was physician John Davy Rolleston. Educated at Saint Ronan's School, and Marlborough College, Gardner was pushed by his teachers into taking up biathlon, which enabled him to travel to Austria to train with the British Army biathlon team. [4] Gardner's bestselling first novel, Crisis, featuring the fictional SBS officer-turned MI6 operative Luke Carlton and a ruthless Colombian drug lord, was published in June 2016. [29] [30] His second novel, Ultimatum, was published in June 2018 followed by the third Luke Carlton novel, Outbreak in 2021. [31] Honours and awards [ edit ] Damage limitation, then? He nods. But perhaps there are limits to being able to talk about not being angry without eventually losing your cool. 'I am not turning the other cheek. I am extremely angry with the people who did this. I could never forgive them. It is not as if their parents have written to us saying: "Forgive poor Faisal, he knew not what he did." Nobody has written. None of them care. I condemn them and their families.' And from a country not short of oil money, he has received no compensation. But the sympathetic letters he has received from Saudi Arabia, the Middle East and all over Britain, he has found enormously comforting.

Crisis Review Crisis Review

Sent to Colombia to investigate the murder of a British intelligence officer, Spanish-speaking former SBS man Luke Carlton is caught in a revenge plot with international dimensions – and London as its target.BBC Two's Being Frank, his documentary broadcast in November 2020, explored what it is like to become disabled. Gardner spoke candidly of his recent separation from his wife of 22 years; the two remain great friends. The average person, I suggest, is as ignorant about what it means to be disabled as about living in the Middle East. Gardner agrees. After the London bombings, he made a sensitive programme about its victims. He talked to many of them off-air too. The key to being disabled, he has learnt, is to focus on what you can do, not dwell on what you can't. But China's People's Liberation Army has already begun to flex its hi-tech muscles, in Taiwan and closer to home, and suddenly the world is holding its breath . . . Gardner is also an avid bird watcher. He was in Papua New Guinea, he went with Benedict Allen, both worked on a documentary called “Birds of Paradise: The Ultimate Quest” where they were looking for elusive birds of paradise. This was a life long ambition that Gardner had, since he is an experienced birdwatcher. It included the King of Saxony. The documentary was aired over two weeks, in two parts. BBC apology to Queen over Abu Hamza disclosure". BBC News. 25 September 2012 . Retrieved 9 September 2020.

Crisis (Luke Carlton 1) • Frank Gardner

One of the gunmen who shot Gardner and Cumbers, Adel al-Dhubaiti, was captured and executed by Saudi authorities in January 2016. [21]

Frank Gardner has written a fast and exciting story rooted in the present horrifying dangers that surrounds us. Crisis is brimful of an insider's insights and reeks of authority. GERALD SEYMOUR Paranoid drugs baron Nelson Garcia, ‘El Pobrecito’, plans a deadly revenge for the British-led interference in his billion pound business. With money no object and the aid of that most sinister and secretive of rogue states, North Korea, he concocts and implements an ingenious plot with the population of London as its target. and China is massing troops on its coast across the Strait from Taiwan. This time it looks like they're serious about invasion - an act that would result in war between the People's Republic and the US and its allies, including the UK. Gardner obviously has an up-to-the-minute understanding of contemporary warfare and he is also a very good writer. This is a thrilling adventure. LITERARY REVIEW

Crisis by Frank Gardner - Penguin Books Australia Crisis by Frank Gardner - Penguin Books Australia

While only sixteen, he and his mother met Sir Wilfred Thesiger on a bus ride. His mother had already known the man. They were invited to his home, in Chelsea, and though Gardner was reluctant at first, he later fell in love with Arabia. Sherwin, Adam (10 March 2012). "BBC star quits 'awards dinner for arms dealers' ". The Independent . Retrieved 9 September 2020. He is a keen birdwatcher [35] and presented a September 2009 BBC Archive Hour programme on Sir Peter Scott. [35] In 2019 he was elected President of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).

We arrive in the British Telecom building where I lose Gardner to a glass lift, but not before an old man has come forward to congratulate him. 'One of the many things I admire about you is the way you manage to be so apolitical about the Middle East,' he said. 'It is a magnificent quality.' Gardner thanks him. He goes on to give a short talk about his life, with polish, without notes. He is light and humorous, but explains to his audience: 'There is plenty wrong with the Arab world. I am not starry eyed about it. There are some extremely ugly, unpleasant trends and atrocities being done in the name of Islam.' But he holds on to his idealism. He finishes by urging the audience: 'It is a mountain we all need to climb to convince everyone that we can all live happily together - as we can.' Saudi Arabia execute inmate who shot BBC journalist Frank Gardner and killed cameraman Simon Cumbers". The Independent. 4 January 2016 . Retrieved 30 June 2017.