Background:

Shawn Ryan is an American podcaster and former U.S. Navy SEAL and Blackwater contractor for the CIA's Global Response Staff. He is most recently known for hosting the Shawn Ryan Show. He is also the founder and CEO of Vigilance Elite, a tactical training company.

Military career
Ryan enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the age of 18 and graduated from BUD/S training, achieving the designation of a Navy SEAL. He served with SEAL Teams 2 and 8. Ryan was deployed to combat zones in the Iraq War as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the War in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. After his contract ended, Ryan became a contractor for the Central Intelligence Agency and served with the Global Response Staff of the Counterterrorism Mission Center. He served a total of 14 years, from 2001 until 2015, across Naval Special Warfare and the CIA.

Post-military career
In December 2015, six months after completing his service as a contractor, Ryan founded Vigilance Elite. The company trains law enforcement and civilians in weapons handling and tactical skills and is based in Florida.
To prepare for filming John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, actor Keanu Reeves trained with Ryan. Some of the topics taught to Reeves included close-quarters combat, specifically clearing rooms. Videos of Reeves and Ryan training together went viral ahead of the film's release.

The Shawn Ryan Show
Ryan hosts The Shawn Ryan Show, a podcast produced by Vigilance Elite. The podcast began with  interviews with military personnel and veterans, with a focus on their experiences of war and life after serving in the military. Guests have expanded to include journalists, celebrities, physicians, politicians and business leaders, including US President Donald Trump.  After only about a year the show was one of the top 10 most listened to podcasts on Spotify, out of a total of 8 million podcasters.

Other work
Ryan has also appeared on other series, including the The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show and Tennessee Representative Tim Burchett's Tennessee Talks. He has been featured in publications like CNBC, and Sofrep.com. Ryan was a guest at President Joe Biden's State of the Union address in 2024.