Former U.S. diplomat who gained international attention with his 2003 op-ed piece in the New York Times, 'What I Didn't Find in Africa.' The piece detailed his trip to Niger, in which he investigated claims that Saddam Hussein had attempted to purchase yellowcake uranium with the intention of developing nuclear weapons.
He graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1972 and worked as a carpenter for five years afterward.
In 2004, he published the memoir The Politics of Truth, in which he heavily criticized the administration of George W. Bush and the events which led to the outing of his CIA operative wife.
He married former United States CIA operations officer Valerie Plame in 1998. He was married twice previously.
He was portrayed by actor Sean Penn in the biographical drama Fair Game, released in 2010.