Gary Noesner

Gary Noesner retired from the FBI in 2003 following a 30-year career as an investigator, instructor, and negotiator. A significant focus of his career was directed toward investigating Middle East hijackings in which American citizens were victimized. He spent 23 years as an FBI hostage negotiator and was the Chief Negotiator for the FBI during the last ten years of his career. He was the inaugural Chief of the FBI's Crisis Negotiation Unit, Critical Incident Response Group. In this role, he was deeply involved in numerous crisis incidents, including prison riots, right-wing militia standoffs, religious zealot sieges, terrorist embassy takeovers, airplane hijackings, and over 120 overseas kidnapping cases involving American citizens.

After retiring from the FBI, Noesner became a Senior Vice President at Control Risks, an international risk consultancy. In this role, he assists clients in managing overseas kidnap incidents involving their employees. He continues to conduct part-time management consulting and kidnap management consulting work for Control Risks. Additionally, he conducts training seminars and gives presentations across all 50 states and in over 40 countries, sharing his expertise in hostage negotiation, crisis management, kidnapping, terrorism, and workplace violence. Noesner has contributed to numerous television documentaries on hostage negotiation, terrorism, and kidnapping, aired by networks such as the History Channel, TLC, A&E, CNN, CBS, and BBC, and has been interviewed by major publications including Time, Forbes, and The New York Times.

Noesner authored "Stalling for Time: My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator," published by Random House on September 21, 2010. This book serves as a foundation for the mini-series "Waco," which aired on the Paramount Network. His keynote topics include effective negotiation and communication strategies to avoid conflict and gain cooperation, reflecting his expertise in communication, conflict management, crisis management, negotiation, and stress management. He gives speeches on a variety of subjects, including law and prisons, and continues to be a leading authority in his field.