Bret Gilliam

Bret Clifton Gilliam
Bret Gilliam in 1996
Born	(1951-02-03)February 3, 1951 Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.
Residence	Arrowsic, Maine
Occupation	author, entrepreneur, expert witness, explorer

Bret Clifton Gilliam is a pioneering technical diver. He is most famous as the founder of TDI, and as the one time holder of the world record for deep diving on air. He is also one of diving's most popular writers.

Gilliam is a multimillionaire from the sale of several businesses that included Technical Diving International (TDI), V. I. Divers Ltd., AMF Yacht Charters, Ocean Quest Cruise Lines, G2 Publishing (Fathoms Magazine), Sea Ventures Ltd., and Uwatec. Several of his companies grew into multi-national conglomerates and two were taken public in major sales while others were sold to private investment groups. Gilliam formed the consulting service Ocean Tech in 1971 and currently provides expert witness testimony for diving and maritime related legal cases. Since 1973, he has appeared in over 300 cases, nearly exactly evenly divided between defense and plaintiff litigation. (A recent case in which he appeared as the maritime and diving expert witness for the plaintiffs resulted in a $12 million settlement in May 2015.) Gilliam has also testified in criminal trials and been Congressionally appointed to military court martial proceedings for the U.S. Marine Corps. Special Consultant in various capacities for the U. S. Navy, U. S. Coast Guard (USCG), Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Bret Gilliam was born February 3, 1951 at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland to Commander Gill Gilliam (retired as Captain) and Jeanne Gilliam. He was the first of three children. His younger brother Chris was murdered in 1972 at the age of 16 while attending an outdoor concert in Puerto Rico.

In 1959, the YMCA developed the first nationally organized course and certified their first skin and scuba diving instructors, and Gilliam began his diving training with Lt. Chuck Brestle while his family was stationed at the Naval Air Station Key West that same year.