Peter Cloutier

Peter is a waterman with over twenty years working in the South Pacific, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa. He has enjoyed working with countries and communities in the development of greater marine conservation and access to justice, more resilient water, sanitation and hygiene systems, and better maternal-child health and control against infectious diseases. He is married and a proud father of two children. He was disabled after suffered a traumatic brain injury while working in Afghanistan and has pledged to donate a significant portion of the revenue from his writing to charitable groups located in the countries where he has worked. See some of Peter and his family’s earlier adventures on https://www.youtube.com/@petercloutier5201.

For twenty years, I have worked on both coasts of Africa, in multiple maritime domains of Southeast Asia, and for a foreign government in the South Pacific. I have supported country-led efforts to protect ocean and maritime resources, strengthen accountable governance, and prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria.

I have taught strategy and entrepreneurship in the Pacific Islands through a satellite university program after acquiring a master’s degree in business and a scholarship to study strategy in Australia. I received an undergraduate degree in biology with a focus in marine science as a varsity scholar-athlete in swimming.

I wrote What We Were Making during an ongoing rehabilitation period after surviving a severe traumatic brain injury and subsequent emergency brain surgery in Afghanistan that left me disabled. I have gone on to write three additional novels since.

I’ve advised a Head of State, counseled several entrepreneurial endeavors, and mentored coastal ecotour operators.

My children and I have raised funds for local marine research and conservation in multiple country settings and have documented underwater marine adventures and conservation efforts involving whale sharks, manta rays, and humpback whales, among other marine megafauna. My daughter’s first book, Rose’s Gift, written at age 11, pulled many of these experiences and values together with over 4,400 views on www.storyjumper.com.

I’ve won an international fishing tournament awarded by the President of the respective host country, caught a sportfish estimated to have eclipsed a world record, and ridden many undiscovered waves throughout Africa, Indonesia, and the South Pacific, often with my son.