Co-author of 'Pulitzer' Nominated Book 'Stealing Fire'

Jamie Wheal | Biography

Founder of Flow Genome Project 

• By Reena Chikanbanjar
• Update : March 31, 2022

---

Jamie Wheal is an entrepreneur and author known as the founder of the Flow Genome Project and co-author of the 'Pulitzer Prize'-nominated global bestseller 'Stealing Fire.'  

Who is Jamie Wheal? 

Jamie Wheal is peak performance, leadership, and neurophysiology expert born in the early 1970s. 

His father was a test pilot for the British Royal Navy, and his mother was a nurse from South Africa. He spent his formative years in England before moving to the United States at the age of eight. As a result, he developed a mash-up accent, with a not-quiet-British accent. 

Wheal spent much of his youth in Maryland, near Naval Air Station Patuxent River, and channeled his energy into windsurfing in the Chesapeake Bay. 

In 1992, he graduated from St. Mary's College of Maryland with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Literature, focusing on Eastern philosophy and religion, historical anthropology, and Indigenous studies. He then received a Master's degree in American Studies and Environmental History from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1994.

Also Read About - Dawn O'Porter - Age, Books, Wedding & Husband

Wheal served in leading positions in top business schools and advised senior leaders of high-growth organizations, including Fortune 500 companies, for over a decade before launching Flow Genome Project in August 2015. 

He later became an author of books such as 'Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work' (2017), followed by 'Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex, and Death in a World That's Lost Its Mind' (2021). 

Wheal is also a mountaineer and guide. He has taken the young group of Americans to Camp III on the North Face of Mount Everest, rescued people from the Atlantic Ocean during a hurricane, and trained Navy Seals, Olympians, and Red Bull extreme athletes.

He has advised the U.S. Naval War College, U.S. Special Operations Command, and the executives of Google, Goldman Sachs, Cisco, and Young Presidents' Organization. Moreover, his works have been featured in notable publications like Financial Times, The New York Times, Wired, Forbes, INC, Entrepreneur, Harvard Business Review, and TEDx. 

Additionally, Wheal is a host of the Homegrown Humans podcast.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal

A New York Times bestselling author, award-winning journalist, and entrepreneur, Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal co-authored a book. It was 'Stealing Fire: How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work.' 

It was dedicated to people who want to upgrade their life radically, with the co-author's guide on performance enhancement. Along with that, it included their four accelerating forces and their learning from Navy SEALs and Nike about performance. Published on 21 February 2017, the book became a global bestseller and garnered a 'Pulitzer Prize' nomination.

Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal also co-founded the Flow Genome Project, an international organization dedicated to the research and training of ultimate human performance. Kotler serves as director of research, and Wheal serves as executive director.

Married to His Wife For Over Two Decades

Wheal and his wife, Julie Webster, first met each other during his sophomore year at St. Mary's College of Maryland. 

Then, between his semesters at the University of Colorado Boulder, the two traveled around the West in their 1976 Westfalia van. He later invited her over to his place to watch his windsurfing videos.

They eventually got married in the late 1990s. Wheal and his wife both worked as educators and administrators for a decade. The pair also founded a Montessori school in Maryland in the early 2000s. 

The couple lived together in Colorado for a decade before moving to Austin, Texas, in 2007. They together have two children, Luke and Emma.