Tim MacWelch has been an obsessed devotee of survival and self-reliance for over three decades. His love of the outdoors started at a young age, growing up on a farm in the Piedmont hills of Virginia. Eating wild edibles and learning about the animals in the forest were part of his rural youth, but as a teenager, he couldn't get enough of the subject of survival. In his early twenties, he began working with kids through youth workshops for schools, church groups, the Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, and other youth throughout the region. He still continues to volunteer his time and has worked with thousands of Scouts and other children over the past thirty years. In the spring of 1997, he opened a business teaching wilderness skills to adults, and he still continues this business today. Over the years, Tim has been a featured survival expert for National Geographic , CNN, Good Morning America , Conde Nast Traveller , Washington Post , Men's Journal , FOX 5 DC and several other organizations. Tim has also written scores of articles for OFF-GRID magazine, and is the lead storyteller for their regular feature article "What If?".

Tim has been writing for Outdoor Life magazine since 2010 and has become a regular contributor to the "Outdoor Life Survival" website, creating hundreds of blogs and articles for OutdoorLife.com. Tim's strong relationship with the Outdoor Life brand led to the publishing of Tim's first book with OL's sibling company, Weldon Owen publishing. Tim's first three titles with Weldon Owen were New York Times bestsellers. Tim is also a husband and father of two beautiful girls, and still resides in Virginia.