Born Gary Richard Hagger in the East End of London in 1958 and having a standard school education, he left school and completed a three year apprenticeship in bricklaying, after which he joined the British Army, spending three years in the Royal Green Jackets 2nd Battalion, serving with Andy McNab in Armagh, Northern Ireland in 1979. After serving his time, Gary went back to bricklaying and then started running his own small company, leaving in 2000 to become a site agent for various companies, in that time he designed and built his own skis and bindings why? "simple I could not buy what I wanted so I designed and built them myself and still use them today" and at the age of 54 he retired and started writing.
