Jack O'Neill (March 27, 1923 – June 2, 2017) was an American businessman, often credited with the invention of the

wetsuit A wetsuit is a garment worn to provide thermal protection while wet. It is usually made of foamed neoprene, and is worn by surfing, surfers, Underwater diving, divers, windsurfers, canoeists, and others engaged in water sports and other activit ...

, and the founder of the surfwear and surfboard company

O'Neill The O'Neill dynasty (Irish: ''Ó Néill'') are a lineage of Irish Gaelic origin, that held prominent positions and titles in Ireland and elsewhere. As kings of Cenél nEógain, they were historically the most prominent family of the Northern ...

Early life

O'Neill grew up in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and southern California, where he began body surfing in the late 1930s. He was a Navy pilot during World War II. O'Neill later moved to San Francisco in 1949 and earned a bachelor's degree in liberal arts at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

Career

In 1952, he founded the

brand while opening one of California's first surf shops in a garage on the

Great Highway The Great Highway is a road in San Francisco that forms the city's western edge along the Pacific coast. Built in 1929, it runs for approximately next to Ocean Beach. Its southern end is at Skyline Boulevard ( State Route 35) near Lake Merced; ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, close to his favorite bodysurfing break at the time. This led to the establishment of a company that deals in wetsuits, surf gear, and clothing. Jack O'Neill's name is attached to surfwear and his brand of surfing equipment. Although O'Neill is widely believed to be the inventor of the wetsuit, an investigation concluded that

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

physicist

Hugh Bradner Hugh Bradner (November 5, 1915 – May 5, 2008) was an American physicist at the University of California who is credited with inventing the neoprene wetsuit, which helped to revolutionize scuba diving and surfing. A graduate of Ohio's Miami Un ...

was most likely the original inventor. In December 1996 he began a non-profit organization called

O'Neill Sea Odyssey O'Neill Sea Odyssey is an American non-profit organization located in Santa Cruz, California (California Non-Profit Corporation ID#77-0464784). It was founded in 1996 by wetsuit innovator Jack O'Neill and provides students with hands-on lessons ...

which provides students with hands-on lessons in

marine biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies s ...

and that teaches the relationship between the oceans and the environment. It has hosted about 100,000 children since it started.

Personal life

He was married to Marjorie, who died in 1973, and they had six children. O'Neill resided on a beachfront property in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a pop ...

, from 1959 until his death on June 2, 2017. His granddaughter

Uma O'Neill Uma O'Neill (born 23 March 1995) is a professional show jumper and Olympic veteran representing New Zealand. Personal life Born in Hawaii, O'Neill moved to Santa Cruz, California when she was 12 years old and continues to base her equine develop ...

is a New Zealand-born equestrian rider, who represents that country and holds both New Zealand and American citizenships, she was selected to compete at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

Awards

In 2002, O'Neill was an EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award recipient for the Northern California Region.Jack O'Neill Honored
''SURFER Magazine''. 27 June 2002.

Early life

Career

Personal life

Awards

References

Further reading