Olivier Gruner

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article contains promotional content. Please help improve it by removing promotional language and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic text written from a neutral point of view. (September 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. Please remove or replace such wording and instead of making proclamations about a subject's importance, use facts and attribution to demonstrate that importance. (September 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Olivier Gruner
Gruner in January 2011
Born	Olivier Gruner (1960-08-02) 2 August 1960 (age 64) Paris, France
Nationality	French
Other names	O.G.
Occupations	Actor director producer screenwriter martial artist pilot
Years active	1981–1988 (martial arts) 1989–present (acting)
Height	6 ft (183 cm)
Children	1
Martial arts career
Division	Middleweight
Style	Karate, Kickboxing
Website	www.oliviergruner.com
Military career
Allegiance	France
Service / branch	French Navy
Years of service	1978-1981
Unit	Commandos Marine

Olivier Gruner (French: [ɔlivje ɡʁyne] ^ⓘ) (born August 2, 1960) is a French actor, filmmaker, martial artist and former kickboxer. Born in Paris, he moved back to France in 1988 after serving in the French military and competing as a professional kickboxer, during which time he won a silver medal at the W.A.K.O. World Championships. He has appeared in over 40 films and 4 television series and is best known for martial arts and action films.^[1][2][3]

Olivier Gruner was born into a French family with a background in surgery and engineering,^[4][5] as the second of three sons.^[6]

His interest in martial arts was sparked at the age of 11 after watching a Bruce Lee movie, which inspired him to pursue both martial arts and a potential career in the film industry.^[1][4] Being constantly bullied at school pushed him to learn martial arts to defend himself.^[7] He began studying Shotokan karate, then boxing, kickboxing, and full contact kickboxing.^[8][5][6]

In 1978, at age 18, he joined the French Navy, volunteering for their Commandos Marine unit, also nicknamed the Bérets Verts (Green Berets).^[8][5] He was operational in Djibouti and Somalia, where he was particularly involved in anti-piracy operations.^[9]

In 1981, Gruner left the military with the aim of training full-time to compete professionally as a kickboxer.^[5]

In 1984, he began fighting as a professional kickboxer. By 1985, his successes in the ring allowed him to fight full-time.^{[5][6][better source needed]} Later that same year he won a silver medal in the 1985 W.A.K.O. World Championships.^[10]

Gruner retired from professional kickboxing in 1987 and pursued an acting career, following the lead of bodybuilders Reg Park and Arnold Schwarzenegger.^[1][4][7] To promote himself, Gruner plastered posters of himself around Cannes during the 1987 Cannes Film Festival, which caught the attention of a movie producer. Gruner was invited to Los Angeles for screen tests.

Gruner joined Imperial Entertainment Corporation (Turner Classic Movies - TCM) and began acting in action movies.^[4] He has appeared in martial arts magazines, such as Budo Journal, Combat, Impact, Inside Karate, Inside Kung Fu Yearbook and many more.^[11]

In 1989, he starred in his first movie: the urban action movie Angel Town.^[9] Although the film was not well received, Gruner's screen presence was notable and his acting was compared favourably to Dolph Lundgren.^[12]

In 1992, Gruner starred as Alex Raine in Albert Pyun’s cyberpunk 1992 science fiction thriller Nemesis.^[2][13][3] Critics appreciated the amazing movie stunts, thrilling action sequences, and innovative special effects pushing the film industry limits like Blade Runner and Terminator 2.^[14] Both Nemesis and Angel Town were popular in video distribution,^[15] and Nemesis is one of the movies Gruner is most proud of.^[7]

In 2010, Gruner played Corsair Duguay in Tales of an Ancient Empire.

Gruner played Jagger in Escape from Paradise (2019), and Duguay in Cyborg Nemesis: The Dark Rift (2019), and The Target (2019).

In 1999, Gruner appeared as Dieter Vanderval in the episode titled "Wildlife" of the series Martial Law.

In 2001, he appeared multiple times as Tawrens, in a 26-episode television series Code Name: Eternity.

In 2005, NBC hired Gruner to produce a TV series named The Pros, a Way of Life, a project that Gruner had started in 2003. It portrayed life behind the scenes, training, and the discipline required of professional athletes.^[9] Gruner had completed episodes on professional boxers, surfers, and MMA fighters,^[7] when NBC decided to shelve the series, and it was never released.^[4] A separate video published by Gruner is available.

Gruner played Ivan in the television series Seven Days, which premiered in 2019.

Gruner's first involvement as a director was in 2002 with Interceptor Force 2.

In 2011, he premiered his first feature film as a screenwriter, a director, and an actor,^[4] titled Re-Generator. This film was previously known as One Night, a project Gruner had been working on since 2010.^[16]

In 2014, he featured as a director in Sector 4: Extraction, a direct-to-video release.

In 2015, Gruner released one more film as a director, a producer, a screenwriter, and an actor: EP/Executive Protection.

Early in his career, Gruner got involved in the production of some of the films in which he was appearing as an actor. This is the case for Savage (1996), Mercenary (1996), Mercenary 2: Thick & Thin (1998), Interceptor Force (1999), The Circuit (2001), and Crooked (2005).

But it was only starting in the 2010s, except Interceptor Force 2 in 2002, that he accumulated his involvement both as a producer, as an actor, and as a director in One Night (2010), Re-Generator (2011), Sector 4: Extraction (2014), and EP/Executive Protection (2015).

He has also been involved, as a producer-only, in Front Line (2015). He was both an actor and a producer in Iron Cross: The Road to Normandy (2018).

Gruner co-wrote the stories of some of the movies in which he appeared as an actor.

He wrote the stories of T.N.T. (1997), Interceptor Force 2 (2002), Crooked (2005), One Night (2010), Re-Generator (2011), and EP/Executive Protection (2015).

He also co-wrote the story and the screenplay of Lost Warrior: Left Behind (2008), and co-wrote the story of Sector 4: Extraction (2014).

Gruner has always been involved in several other business activities.^[9]

Gruner occasionally provides personal or close protection for celebrities. Some clients are more comfortable with a fellow actor who understands the pressure and demands, but can also work as a bodyguard. Gruner indeed not only has one of the highest special forces military training one can receive,^[9] but also provides body-guarding training at his academy. One of such body-guarding clients is the famous Canadian singer Celine Dion.^[17][18][19]

Gruner has been producing training videos for martial arts, combat skills, bodyguarding, and survival techniques since 2012.^[6] He commercializes those under the various brands of "Gruner Tactical Training Academy" and "O.G Training". More recently, he has been producing a survival reality show video series under the name "Survival X" in 2018.

Gruner has always kept a side activity as a personal trainer in various martial arts such as kickboxing and mixed martial arts.^[9][4] He usually dedicates this personal training time to competing martial artists, as well as retired champions.

He has also created his own "O.G" trademark athletic fashion brand. Several collections were produced, including "The Lone Operator" collection, and the "Pro Series" collection in 2018.^{[citation needed]}

Gruner is a licensed helicopter pilot, which allows him to mix this activity with film-producing requirements at times. For example, he worked for ABC News in Los Angeles where he did many chase videos and saw a lot of damage and lethal encounters.^[9] Moreover, he was also the helicopter co-pilot in the 1999 movie Storm.^[20]

He regularly flies helicopters and considers it a big part of his life. For Blue Hawaiian Helicopters, he regularly flew tours on Hawaii's Big Island. For Maverick Helicopters, he also flew tours over the Grand Canyon.^[9]

Gruner lives in Santa Monica, California and Las Vegas, Nevada. He has one son.^[4]

He has been regularly maintaining his karate, boxing and kickboxing training, which he has been completing with Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling and mixed martial arts.^[4]

Gruner has been a volunteer firefighter since 2015.

• 1985 W.A.K.O. World Championships - Men's Full-Contact Middleweight -75kg^[10]

Year	Title	Involved as				Role	Notes
		Director	Producer	Writer	Actor
1990	Angel Town				Yes	Jacques Montaigne	First lead and movie,[9][12]
1990	Lionheart						Received thanks for facilitating access to Somalia photos used in the film via Gruner French military connections[3]
1992	Nemesis				Yes	Alex Raine	[2][13][14]
1994	Automatic				Yes	J269	Fight Choreographer,[3]
1995	Savate aka The Fighter				Yes	Joseph Charlegrand	Video, Fight choreographer
1996	Savage		Yes		Yes	Alex Verne / Savage	Associate producer
1996	Mercenary		Yes		Yes	Captain Karl 'Hawk' May	Video, Associate producer, Fight choreographer
1997	Mars				Yes	Caution Templar
1997	T.N.T.			Yes	Yes	Alex Girard
1998	Mercenary 2: Thick & Thin		Yes		Yes	Captain Karl 'Hawk' May	TV movie, Co-executive producer
1999	Velocity Trap				Yes	ED Officer Raymond Stokes
1999	The White Pony				Yes	Jacques
1999	Storm						Video, Helicopter co-pilot
1999	Interceptor Force		Yes		Yes	Lieutenant Sean Lambert	Producer
2000	Crackerjack 3				Yes	Marcus Clay
2000	Kumite				Yes	Michael Rogers
2001	G.O.D.				Yes	Adrian Kaminski
2001	Extreme Honor				Yes	Cody
2001	The Circuit		Yes		Yes	Dirk Longstreet	Executive producer
2002	Power Elite				Yes	Captain
2002	Interceptor Force 2	Yes		Yes	Yes	Lieutenant Sean Lambert	TV movie
2003	The Circuit 2: The Final Punch				Yes	Dirk Longstreet	Video, Executive producer, Helicopter pilot
2003	Deadly Engagement				Yes	Paul Gerard
2004	SWAT: Warhead One				Yes	Luc Rémy	Video. Fight choreographer.
2005	Crooked		Yes	Yes	Yes	Phil Yordan	Also named Soft Target
2006	The Circuit 3: The Street Monk				Yes	Dirk Longstreet	Video, also named The Circuit 3: Final Flight
2007	Blizhniy Boy: The Ultimate Fighter				Yes	FBI Agent #1
2008	Lost Warrior: Left Behind			Yes	Yes	Nash Daniels	Video, Co-writer story and screenplay
2008	Skorumpowani				Yes	Montenegro
2009	Brother's War				Yes	Anton
2010	One Night	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	The Beast	Director
2010	Tales of an Ancient Empire				Yes	Corsair Duguay	Also named Abelar: Tales of an ancient Empire
2011	Re-Generator	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	The Beast	Director,[16]
2013	Cyborg: Rise of the Slingers				Yes	Duguay
2014	Sector 4: Extraction	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Nash	Executive producer, Co-writer
2015	EP/Executive Protection	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Max Webber
2015	The whole World at our Feet				Yes	Tony
2015	Frontline		Yes				Co-producer
2016	Assassin X				Yes	Ronus Steele	Also named The Chemist
2016	Beyond the Game				Yes	Nash Daniels
2016	Showdown in Manila				Yes	Ford
2016	Darkweb				Yes	Stanislas
2017	Iron Cross Brothers Road Home				Yes
2021	Amour				Yes	Robert	Short film
2021	Iron Cross: The road to Normandy		Yes		Yes	Anton
2022	Gunfight at Rio Bravo				Yes	Marshall Austin Carter
2022	Escape from Paradise †				Yes	Jagger	Pre-production
2022	Cyborg Nemesis: The dark Rift †				Yes	Duguay	Film announced. Duguay role is rumored only.
2022	The Target †				Yes		Film announced.

Key

†	Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Martial Law	Dieter Vanderval	Wild Life (1999)
2000	Code Name: Eternity	Tawrens	- The Shift (2000) - All Fall Down (2000) - Chameleon (2000) - Underground (2000) - The Box (2000) - Not a Bite to Eat (2000) - Dark of Night (2000) - Project Midas (2000) - Laura's Story (2000) - All the News (2000) - Sold Out for a Song (2000) - Fatal Error (2000) - Deep Down (2000) - 24 Hours (2000) - Lose Your Dreams (2000) - Thief (2000) - Bounty Hunter (2000) - Death Trap (2000) - Making Love (2000) - Tawrens (2000) - Never Go Home (2000) - The Watery Grave (2000) - The Long Drop (2000) - The Hunter (2000) - The Mission (2000) - Ethaniel's Story (2000)
2005	The Pros, a way of life	Himself	Documentary TV Series partially produced and published by NBC before being shelved, video
2019	Seven Days	Ivan	- Episode #1.1 (2019)
2020	CF3: Cult Fans, Films & Finds	Himself	- Nemesis (1992) feat. Olivier Gruner & Thom Mathews (2020)
2021	The Circuit 2020	Dirk	- Ranch Terror (2021) - The Bank Heist (2021) - Pawn Shop (2021) - Wilderness (2021)

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Tales of an Ancient Empire: Behind the Scenes	Himself	Video documentary

Year	Title	Involved as	Role	Notes
1994	Automatic	Fight choreographer	J269
1995	Savate aka The Fighter	Fight choreographer	Joseph Charlegrand	Video
1996	Mercenary	Fight choreographer	Captain Karl 'Hawk' May	Video, Associate producer
1996	Savage	Fight choreographer	Alex Verne / Savage	Associate producer
2003	The Circuit 2: The Final Punch	Action coordinator	Dirk Longstreet	Video, Executive producer, Helicopter pilot

• Olivier Gruner official website
• Oliver Gruner at IMDb