Bio
Ean Anderson is a two-time Survival Games Champion, and now he is stepping into a new role as an instructor, bringing years of hard-earned wilderness knowledge, grit, and real-world experience to this year’s competitors.
Ean grew up off-grid on an old homestead surrounded by timberland in a small rural community. Hunting for meat, growing food in the garden, and learning to live with the land were not hobbies, they were part of everyday life. From a young age, he attended Mountain Man Rendezvous events with his dad, where he was first introduced to the traditional skills and survival community that would become a lifelong passion.
His father taught him survival skills throughout his early life, and as a teenager, Ean continued building on that foundation by spending every chance he could in the wilderness. Over time, he developed a deep skill set rooted in traditional outdoor living, self-reliance, and hands-on experience.
For the past 13 years, Ean has taught at traditional skills gatherings, sharing knowledge in friction fire, splicing, knots, gill net making, animal processing, traditional archery, and more. He is an avid outdoorsman, hunter, tracker, butcher, long-range shooter, and traditional bowhunter with an impressive range of experience in ethically harvesting wild game.
Ean’s skill set is as diverse as it is hard-earned. He has taken wild game at close range with a traditional bow he carved himself, and he has also harvested antelope at 1,062 yards with a rifle he designed and had custom built. That combination of primitive skill, precision, discipline, and practical experience makes him a rare and valuable instructor for anyone serious about learning survival.
Beyond the wilderness, Ean works for the Washington State Department of Transportation and operates a wildfire mitigation business that helps protect homes in his community. He also serves as a wildland firefighter with his local volunteer fire department and is a nationally certified EMT. His background includes years in search and rescue operations in Washington state, as well as past work as a maximum-security corrections officer, merchant mariner, and deckhand in the Bering Sea fishing industry.
Ean has traveled the world and practiced survival skills across multiple countries and landscapes, but his deepest roots remain in the outdoors, family, and faith. He and his wife own horses and enjoy riding and packing in the backcountry. Ean has raised his children to be lovers of all things outdoors and to respect every animal they harvest during a hunt.
At the Survival Games, Ean brings the mindset of a champion, the heart of a teacher, and the kind of real-world experience that cannot be faked. Competitors will have the chance to learn from someone who has lived these skills, tested them, taught them, and proven them under pressure.