Duane Arthur Ose was born and raised in Minnesota. He enlisted in the army in 1964 at the age of twenty-one and spent one of his three years of service in Korea as a US army engineer. Duane met Rena, his second wife, through the mail-order bride system, and she moved to the Alaskan homestead to live in a hole in the ground (called a dugout) for nine years while she and Duane built their three-story log home. They live off the land for the most part, gardening, using solar power, and trapping. (Rena does the skinning.) Duane is a survival expert, skilled at living and thriving under extreme conditions. A sought-after public speaker, Duane gives presentations on rural living, homesteading, survival, Alaskan living, and the art of dowsing. He is also the author of Alaskan Wilderness Adventure: Join Duane and His Son Daniel on a Journey Deep in the Alaskan Wilderness in Search of Finding a New Home.