Episode 124: Brian O'Keefe - Life of Fishing & Photography

Mill House Podcast

Brian O'Keefe was a man born to be free of any kind of structure and fishing was the caveat to keep him running to the end of the rainbow where the best fishing holes lay. I recognize this because I have the same life text book which reads; ski, fish, eat, sleep! Seeing a photograph of him in his early life, upside down on a Powder Magazine cover, struck me deeply as I remembered this photo from many moons ago. I always wondered who this free spirited skier was. Jump ahead 15 years when I was cutting my teeth with a fish called Megalops, I heard of Brian catching a world record fish with Pate in Africa. Later, while at a trade show a number of years ago, I meet this mystery man, O'Keefe.

Very rarely do you meet such a giant so gregarious and friendly. It was as if he was seeking to be hired for his first job. We didn’t spend much time together, but I knew instantly we could be incredible friends. Over the next 15 years I kept a keen eye on Brian’s work in many publications from every corner of the planet, and I always thought to myself when I’d see a photograph of him with an extraordinary subject , “what a lucky guy!” And finally we get to hear all about it.