About Ryan

Ryan is a powerful keynote speaker, author and respected mental resilience advocator. With a career forged in the pressure-cooker environments of frontline policing and military service, Ryan brings unmatched authenticity and impact to every stage, boardroom, and community he enters.

As a former senior police officer, Ryan led high-risk operations, managed major incidents, and oversaw complex investigations in counterterrorism and serious crime. His journey - marked by trauma, recovery, and relentless public service - now fuels his mission to support others through adversity and ignite lasting change.

Ryan grew up in Dundee, Scotland in a low-income social family. He is the middle of three children, and his parents were both manual workers. Ryan struggled at school and battled through with undiagnosed dyslexia and ADHD before joining the Royal Air Force at 17 where he spent nine years travelling the world, including operational tours or Iraq during the 2003 Gulf War.

After his RAF service, Ryan joined the police and over 22 years rose through the ranks to become a senior leader, managing critical and major incidents, high profile and complex crimes and leading teams across Scotland.

His career spanned many specialisms including Counter Terrorism Policing, Intelligence Officer, Surveillance Officer, Crime Scene Manager and more. His career was defined by courage, leadership, and relentless public service.

But behind the uniform was a man slowly breaking down.

As a seasoned Police Officer, Ryan witnessed the darkest parts of human experience - murder investigations, child deaths, suicides, and sexual assaults. The emotional toll of those years led to undiagnosed PTSD, which silently eroded his mental wellbeing. Ryan began to experience flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety, and emotional numbness. The pressures of leadership and the stigma surrounding mental health in policing meant he never spoke out - until he no longer could hide the pain.

Eventually, after planning to take his own life, and intense psychotherapy, Ryan was medically retired from the police, and his world changed overnight. Struggling with a loss of identity, fractured family relationships, and a damaged sense of purpose, he hit rock bottom. But it was from this lowest point that Ryan began to rebuild his life - brick by brick, day by day.

Now, Ryan is a motivational speaker and author, with his memoir Blue Lights, Dark Mind - climbing the best seller list, it’s a raw and powerful account of the personal cost of service and the path to healing.

Drawing on his own journey through trauma, leadership, and recovery, he delivers motivational, and keynote talks that cut through the noise, helping others face adversity with strength, honesty, and hope.

His storytelling and talks are impactful, his message is clear: resilience isn’t about never falling, it’s about rising every time you do.
Ryan now speaks across the UK at conferences, workplaces, and wellbeing events, inspiring audiences to embrace change, prioritise mental health, and live a life of meaning beyond the mask.

Ryan MacDonald

Author & Speaker

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