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Gareth Collett is a retired British Army Brigadier General and Diplomat, who specialised in counter-terrorist bomb disposal. He holds a Doctorate in Defence and Security, which specialised in home-made explosives, explosive chemical precursors, and the toxic effects of explosives on the human body. He is a fluent Arab speaker having conducted numerous diplomatic roles in the Middle East, a Chartered Engineer with the Engineering Council, and Fellow of the Institute of Explosive Engineers.

He was appointed CBE in 2013 as the head of the UK’s bomb disposal profession and principal proponent for the safeguarding of multinational EOD operations worldwide. This was a particularly testing time as his duties covered the most kinetic years of British deployments to Afghanistan and the preparation of security protocols for the 2012 Olympics.

Gareth is a world leading expert on countering improvised explosive devices (C-IED), blast mitigation and post-blast forensics, having recently completed formal technical reports on Mariupol Theatre, the Beirut Port disaster, and the safe recovery of 1.1 million barrels of crude oil from the stricken Fuel-Storage and Offloading tanker ‘Safer’ in Yemen. His explosion mitigation plan prevented occurrence of a fuel-air explosion during transfer operations by SMIT Boskalis and averted an environmental disaster in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. He was also the initiator of the ‘blended solution’ in Iraq, a clearance initiative that brought the global demining community together and facilitated the dignified return of over three million displaced people after the liberation of the country from Daesh.

Academically, Gareth focuses on publications concerning home-made explosives (HME), explosive chemical precursors, the carcinogenicity of explosives to the urinary tract, humanitarian demining, humanitarian forensic action and post-blast forensics. He has written three books relating to IED disposal good practice, the hazards associated with HME in humanitarian demining, and Explosive Ordnance Risk Education for children and vulnerable adults.

In his spare time, Gareth is a Board Member to two International Victim Assistance Charities, an advisor to Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), a senior member of the UK’s Civilian Stabilisation Group and a senior Technical Advisor to the United Nations.

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