Early Life
Gardner's father and mother were both diplomats and when he was six he moved from the UK to the Hague in the Netherlands. The excitement of travel to a foreign country left a lasting impression. Educated at Saint Ronan's School, and Marlborough College, Gardner was pushed by his teachers into taking up biathlon, which enabled him to travel to Austria to train with the British Army biathlon team.
When he was 16, Gardner and his mother had met the Arabian explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger (whom his mother had previously known) on a bus. Invited to the explorer's home in Chelsea, the initially reluctant Gardner fell in love with Arabia. Partly as a result – and partly reasoning that knowing the Arabic language would make him recruitable in 22 countries many of which had oil – he was determined to study the Arabic language.
In his gap year Gardner went backpacking to Greece where, when working at a restaurant, he spotted an advertisement for a £100 one way ticket to Manila in the Philippines. Once there, he spent time with the tribal people.
He returned to study at the University of Exeter, graduating in 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts in Arabic and Islamic Studies.
Between 1984 and 1990 he served in the Territorial Army. He was commissioned on 23 May 1984 as a second lieutenant (on probation). On 30 September 1984, he transferred from the general list to the 4th Volunteer Battalion, The Royal Green Jackets as a second lieutenant (on probation) and was given seniority from 23 May 1984. His commission was confirmed and his rank of second lieutenant was dated to 23 May 1984 with seniority from 23 May 1982. He was promoted to lieutenant on 30 September 1985, with seniority from 23 May 1984. He was promoted to captain on 1 October 1990, with seniority 1 February 1989.
After a nine year career in banking as an investment banker with Saudi International Bank and then Robert Fleming Bank from 1986 until 1995, Gardner left banking and started working in journalism for BBC World.
Read more about this topic: Frank Gardner (journalist)
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