Ivan Smith was born 1941 in Fort Victoria, Rhodesia. He grew up on farm before doing his national service after leaving school in 1958. After some cowboy and mining work he spent two years in London and Copenhagen. In 1964 he signed up for a six-month contract as a mercenary in the Congo. He joined the British South Africa Police in 1965 and served fourteen years in the paramilitary Support Unit and the Police Anti-Terrorist Unit during the protracted Rhodesian 'bush war'. He immigrated to South Africa in 1984 where he worked in the security department at the University of Cape for sixteen years. A lover of hunting and fishing, he has written for various outdoor magazines for over forty years. He lives in the small village of Joubertina in the Western Cape of South Africa.