Colin MacLachlan, star of Channel Four's captivating reality TV drama SAS: Who Dares Wins and Channel 5's 'Secrets of the SAS' is a public speaker with over 25 years of security and risk related experience.

It was in 1989 Colin joined what was then the oldest Infantry Regiment in the British Army, The Royal Scots and after 9 years, he passed selection first time aged 23 into The 22nd Special Air Service regiment (22 SAS).

Colin Maclachlan was fortunate enough to have been involved in some of the more high profile and daring missions of the recent period. Only a handful of men have been involved in hostage negotiations, hostage rescue and been a hostage themselves and Colin is one of them. He waded through stinking swamps in Sierra Leone in West Africa to hunt down the West Side Boys, a guerilla gang holding 11 British soldiers hostage. It was a mission so daring and dangerous they nicknamed it Operation Certain Death. Its real name was Operation Barras. The SAS recce teams secured the hostages' building and neutralised any West Side Boys prior to the main assault arriving and secured the prison building before the rest of the unit arrived wiping out the terrorists in 2000.

Colin MacLachlan was also the first sniper on the scene when a hijacked Afghan flight with 180 passengers landed at Stansted Airport in the same year, sparking a stand-off that lasted 4 days and was the longest standing hostage siege on UK soil to date. But just 4 years later, Colin found himself on the other side of a rescue mission, after he was taken hostage in the Iraqi city of Basra. Blindfolded, battered and stripped naked, he felt a gun pressed to his head and heard them pull the trigger, as his captors held mock executions. Father-of-two Colin only survived long enough for British troops to rescue him because the terrorists who held him wanted to film his suffering in a propaganda execution video.

Colin left the SAS shortly after doing an exchange programme with both Delta Force and Seal Team 6 and after doing security consultancy for the Saudi Royal Family, A-List Celebrities and US Media Networks, Colin decided to fund himself through university where he attained a First Class MA (Hons.) in History from Edinburgh University and an M.Litt in Terrorism from St. Andrews University.

Colin MacLachlan is now involved in TV, Book, Radio and Video Games and also does a lot with charity being involved as Ambassador for the Lee Rigby Foundation, Pilgrim Bandits and NSPCC among others. He has also just founded his own charity, Who Dares Cares which aims to link and support veterans as well as others that encounter stress. As well as local community issues, Colin writes and edits articles on military and terrorism, and also risk consultancy on a project basis.

Having had both an exciting and varied career, Colin is an excellent speaker on a wide variety of topics including Resilience, Teamwork, Leadership, Risk, Motivation and Performance. He is also an experienced presenter and host for events.

"Having booked guest speakers in the past, I expected Colin to turn up on the day and deliver a 60 minute talk. However, I was wrong, due to his detail in planning and wanting to add value, we spoke several times before the event to ensure his talk enhanced our message (even sending his presentation over a few days before the event to review). The style in which he delivered his motivational talk was excellent and his key points were referenced throughout the remainder of our workshop. The feedback from the delegates on his talk was 100% percent positive. What a fantastic and inspirational person and a real pleasure to meet. Colin hit that nail on the head and he was referenced many times during the rest of the two-day workshop".
Brian Morgan, Senior Manager, Convergys