Jocko Willink

Willink was born in Torrington, Connecticut, and grew up playing soccer.⁠[1]

He grew up in Connecticut and Maine, the son of two educators. He says that as a teenager he read about SEALs dying in Panama in 1989 and joined the Navy straight out of high school.⁠[2]

He started as an enlisted SEAL and rose through the ranks to become a SEAL officer.⁠[3]

He served in the SEAL Teams from September 1990 to 2010, including as a platoon commander and task unit commander, leading hundreds of combat operations.⁠[4]

He began training Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Fabio Santos in 1995 and went on to train two to three times a day.⁠[5]

By his own account he served at SEAL Team One in the 1990s; after September 11, 2001, he deployed to Iraq first as a SEAL platoon commander and then as a task unit commander.⁠[6]

In 2006 he commanded SEAL Team Three’s Task Unit Bruiser in the Battle of Ramadi, with Leif Babin serving under him as a platoon commander; the unit has been described as the most highly decorated special operations unit of the Iraq War.⁠[7]

His official biography says he orchestrated SEAL operations in Ramadi that helped the “Ready First” Brigade of the U.S. Army’s First Armored Division bring stability to the city.⁠[8]

After returning from Iraq he served as Officer-in-Charge of training for all West Coast SEAL Teams; during his career he received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and other personal and unit awards.⁠[3]

In 2010, after twenty years in the SEAL Teams, he retired from the Navy and launched Echelon Front, where he teaches the leadership principles he learned on the battlefield.⁠[3]

Echelon Front’s team page lists him as co-founder and CEO and Leif Babin as co-founder and president.⁠[9]

He says episode 107 of The Tim Ferriss Show, released in September 2015, was his first interview, and that Tim Ferriss and Joe RoganJoe RoganJoe Rogan is an American podcaster, stand-up comedian and UFC commentator whose long-form interview podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, launched in 2009, is among the most listened-to podcasts in the world; he hosted the NBC reality show Fear Factor, and his show’s content and political statements have repeatedly drawn controversy.Open the full entry both urged him to start his own podcast.⁠[6]

His first book with Babin, Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, was published in October 2015.⁠[10]

The book draws leadership lessons from their combat experience, which the two had been teaching to corporate clients through Echelon Front for the previous four years.⁠[7]

He started Jocko Podcast in late 2015.⁠[2]

He co-hosts the show with director Echo Charles, discussing discipline and leadership in business, war, relationships and everyday life.⁠[11]

He appeared on episode 26 of Sam HarrisSam HarrisSam Harris is an American author, philosopher and neuroscience PhD, host of the Making Sense podcast and founder of the Waking Up meditation app; he rose to prominence with The End of Faith and other critiques of religion and is regarded as a leading figure of the “New Atheism,” and has since written and spoken on morality, free will, meditation and politics, often provoking controversy.Open the full entry’s podcast, “The Logic of Violence.”⁠[12]

In March 2017 he was about to publish a children’s book about a bullied boy who spends a summer training with his Uncle Jake, a Navy SEAL; he had been married for nearly 20 years and had four children.⁠[2]

In August 2017 Maine jiu-jitsu apparel maker Origin USA opened a new plant in Farmington following its merger with Jocko Industries, the performance apparel and gear company Willink owns; he also owned a martial arts gym and a beverage company at the time.⁠[13]

As of January 2018 he had earned his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt from world champion Dean Lister, had competed nationally in submission grappling, and co-owned Victory MMA with Lister.⁠[4]

His second book with Babin, The Dichotomy of Leadership, was published on September 25, 2018, and addresses how to balance seemingly opposing demands of leadership.⁠[10]

The third book in the children’s series, Way of the Warrior Kid III: Where There’s a Will…, was published by Jocko Publishing in 2019 at 207 pages; its hero Marc learns discipline, exercise and respect for others under the guidance of his uncle Jake, a former SEAL.⁠[14]

St. Martin’s published his Leadership Strategy and Tactics on January 14, 2020; a review found that its lessons, though framed from a military point of view, are of universal application.⁠[15]

In March 2021 convenience chain Wawa launched Jocko Fuel’s ready-to-drink Jocko GO energy drinks in all its stores, ahead of the originally planned phased rollout; the release named Pete Roberts as CEO and founding partner of the Origin family of brands.⁠[16]

He appeared on episode 197 of the Lex FridmanLex FridmanLex Fridman is a Soviet-born, US-raised computer scientist and podcast host who works as an MIT research scientist on human-AI interaction and autonomous driving. His Lex Fridman Podcast is known for hours-long conversations with guests including heads of state and technology leaders.Open the full entry Podcast, whose description calls him a retired Navy SEAL, co-author of Extreme Ownership and host of Jocko Podcast; topics included war, just war, autonomous weapons, leadership case studies of Elon MuskElon MuskElon Musk is an entrepreneur who founded SpaceX and has long served as chief executive of Tesla; he also took part in creating PayPal, OpenAI, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and xAI. He acquired Twitter in 2022, and his businesses span spaceflight, electric vehicles, energy, artificial intelligence, and social media.Open the full entry, Steve JobsSteve JobsSteve Jobs (1955–2011) was a technology entrepreneur, Apple co-founder, NeXT founder, and investor and former CEO of Pixar. His career spanned personal computing, digital music, smartphones and animated films, with an emphasis on product design, user experience and multidisciplinary teams.Open the full entry and Sundar Pichai, discipline and jiu-jitsu.⁠[17]

His first adult novel, Final Spin, reached No. 10 on the Publishers Weekly hardcover fiction list; he had previously written five adult nonfiction books and four children’s books.⁠[18]

In April 2024 a film adaptation of his novel Way of the Warrior Kid was announced with Chris Pratt starring, McG directing and Will Staples writing, with Willink and Pratt among the producers. Willink said the project began through a banker he met during a private equity deal involving one of his companies, who passed the book to producer Ben Everard.⁠[19]

Major League SoccerMLSMajor League Soccer (MLS) is a top-flight professional soccer league comprising clubs in the United States and Canada. Play began in 1996, and the league has 30 clubs divided between Eastern and Western Conferences in 2026.Open the full entry club San Diego FCSan Diego FCSan Diego FC (SDFC) is a professional soccer club in San Diego, California. Awarded an MLS expansion franchise in 2023, it began play in 2025 and uses Snapdragon Stadium as its home.Open the full entry announced that he had joined its ownership group as a partner and would build community programs for the local armed services community.⁠[1]

In February 2026 Apple TV set Way of the Warrior Kid for release on November 20, 2026, starring Chris Pratt, Linda Cardellini and Jude Hill.⁠[20]

As of October 28, 2026, Jocko Podcast had released episode 564, alongside the premium show Jocko Underground.⁠[11]

His official website also promotes Origin’s American-made jiu-jitsu gear and apparel and Jocko Fuel nutrition products.⁠[8]

His bibliography also includes Discipline Equals Freedom, The Code. The Evaluation. The Protocols. and the children’s book Mikey and the Dragons, and the Way of the Warrior Kid series has reached a fourth volume, a Field Manual.⁠[21]

Personal website: Public link: https://jocko.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[17]

X: Public account: https://x.com/jockowillink (opens in a new window)⁠[17]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JockoPodcastOfficial (opens in a new window)⁠[8]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocko-willink-260b289/ (opens in a new window)⁠[8]

Jocko Podcast: Official website: https://jockopodcast.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[17]

Echelon Front: Official website: https://echelonfront.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[8]

San Diego FC: Official website: https://www.sandiegofc.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[1]