Guy Harvey

Guy Harvey is a unique blend of artist, scientist, angler, diver, conservationist and explorer, fiercely devoted to his family and his love of the sea. Born in Lippspringe, Germany on September 16, 1955 while his father was serving as a Gunnery Officer in the British Army, Guy is a 10th generation Jamaican of English heritage. Growing up on the south coast of Jamaica, Guy learned to fish and gained an appreciation for the marine environment from his parents, both very accomplished anglers.

Guy’s passion for the oceans started early in life. As a self-taught artist, he would regularly draw in accurate detail the fish, birds and other wildlife that he would see around his home. Guy initially opted for a scientific education, earning high honors in Marine Biology at Aberdeen University in Scotland. He continued his formal training at the University of the West Indies (UWI), where he earned a Doctorate in Fisheries Biology. Guy was a full-time professor at UWI as his career as an artist began to take shape.

The Artist
In 1985, Guy depicted Ernest Hemingway’s famous fishing story The Old Man and the Sea through a series of 44 original pen and ink drawings and displayed them at an exhibition in Jamaica. Based on the positive response, Guy brought an exhibition to the Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show that same year and sold his entire collection. Soon after, Guy was painting full-time and by 1988 was providing custom artwork for a variety of products.

Guy began to travel the world to gain first-hand experience and knowledge of the behaviors of marine wildlife. He has been an avid SCUBA diver for over 42 years and is a skilled underwater photographer and videographer. Guy pioneered a technique of diving with and photographing free-swimming billfish. His personal observations made during these expeditions, combined with his scientific background, have better enabled him to capture the intricate details in his paintings that have contributed to the popularity of his work. Guy became a Signature Member of the Society of Animal Artists in 1999.

In 1999, with permission from the Hemingway family, Guy released Santiago’s Finest Hour, a compilation of 56 pen and ink drawings inspired by The Old Man and the Sea. Guy’s first autobiography, Portraits From the Deep, a 208-page hardbound coffee table style book was released in 2002. In 2010, Guy partnered with renowned marine biologist Julian Pepperell to publish Fishes of the Open Ocean, an educational textbook documenting the life history of large pelagic fish. Guy released Panama Paradise: A Tribute to Tropic Star Lodge, a history book about one of the world’s premier (and Guy’s favorite) fishing destinations, in 2011.

Guy’s first venture into television came in 2003 when he debuted the award-winning, made-for-TV fishing series Guy Harvey’s Portraits From the Deep. In 2014 and 2015, Guy worked with Discovery Networks to nationally televise his latest adventure series Guy Harvey Expeditions.

Guy has designed numerous larger-than-life public murals that bring the underwater world into everyday life. He has collaborated with fellow marine artist, Wyland, on murals around south Florida and the Florida Keys. Guy has also created large-scale murals for Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, the Hollywood – Ft. Lauderdale International Airport, the Owen Roberts International Airport in Grand Cayman, Surf Style retail shop in Clearwater Beach, FL and at Sea World Orlando.

Guy’s artwork continues to be exhibited in top art galleries around the world.

The Entrepreneur
Shortly after Guy’s first American art exhibition, the iconic Guy Harvey t-shirt made its first appearance in 1986. Since that time, the brand has continued to grow nationally and internationally to include apparel, housewares, gift items, a restaurant, a magazine, eco-friendly resorts, Tervis Tumbler and over 20 other licensed products.

Guy’s largest canvas to date debuted in 2015 with the newest Norwegian Cruise Line ship Escape This 1,000+ foot long ship features Guy Harvey artwork along the hull and the entire ship is Guy Harvey themed throughout. The Escape makes port in Miami and travels around the eastern Caribbean.

In 2016, Guy partnered with Sea World Parks and Entertainment in conjunction with the opening of their new rollercoaster, ‘Mako’. The partnership highlights Guy’s educational documentaries about shark tagging and tracking research playing as riders make their way through the rollercoaster queue line, Guy Harvey shark tracking kiosks, an original Guy Harvey mural and custom Guy Harvey / Sea World apparel. Sea World is also a major sponsor of Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation (GHOF) shark research.

Guy opened the Guy Harvey Gallery and Shoppe in 2006 on the famed Church Street in Grand Cayman. This 2,500+ square foot flagship store is just outside of Cayman’s cruise terminal and is visited by tourists from all over the world. In 2010, Guy Harvey World Headquarters opened in Davie, FL. The home of Guy Harvey Inc. and the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, the office also houses a showroom featuring the complete line of Guy Harvey merchandise and the largest collection of Guy Harvey artwork anywhere.

Guy’s unique business plan turns many of his successes into funding for the GHOF, Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI) and a number of other marine conservation groups. Guy requires all Guy Harvey licensees to designate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of their product to benefit ocean research and education through the GHOF.

These philanthropic efforts were most notable on two state-partnered projects. Guy’s artwork can be seen on several official vehicle license plates around the State of Florida, most recently with the Protect Our Oceans plate that benefits the GHOF. Guy also collaborated with the Florida Lottery and the South Carolina Educational Lottery for a series of scratch-off lottery tickets featuring Guy’s artwork. Over $2 million from the sale of these license plates and lottery tickets were spent on ocean conservation research and education programs in each respective state.

The Conservationist
As an ardent conservationist, Guy consistently supports catch-and-release fishing for gamefish around the world. In 1986, he was selected as Jamaica’s representative to the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) and in 1992 was appointed as a Trustee. In 1997, Guy sponsored the sinking of a retired 185-foot ship to create the artificial Guy Harvey Reef to help create more underwater habitat in Pompano Beach, FL.

Guy partnered with Nova Southeastern University (NSU) in 1999 to create the Guy Harvey Research Institute. The GHRI aims to provide the scientific information necessary to understand, conserve, and effectively manage the world’s marine fishes and their ecosystems. The GHRI has published over 90 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals.

In an effort to even further expand his conservation work, Guy founded the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation in 2008. The GHOF works to broaden the reach of the scientific research being done and to fund educational programs that engage the public in ocean conservation. The GHOF has funded hundreds of research organizations and educational programs all over the world, including pelagic fish tagging and tracking studies, graduate and undergraduate scholarships and student marine science camps.

Guy’s conservation efforts embrace many threatened and endangered species, including billfish, Bluefin tuna, Nassau grouper, sea turtles and Tiger, Mako and Oceanic whitetip sharks. The GHOF helped lead the effort to prohibit commercial shark fishing in the Bahamas and also supported the passing of the U.S. Billfish Conservation Act in 2012. Guy is currently at the forefront of the work to eradicate the invasive Lionfish from U.S. and Caribbean reefs.

Guy works closely with the researchers on these projects as he documents their work for longer format educational documentary films. The award-winning This Is Your Ocean: Sharks, released in 2011, speaks to the value of living sharks to eco-tourism in the Bahamas; The Mystery of the Grouper Moon highlights one of the few remaining Nassau grouper spawning aggregations in the Caribbean; Tiger Shark Express documents the five-year tracking study that uncovered the Tiger shark migration route in the western north Atlantic; Giants of the Gulf covers the highly productive waters around the Yucatan Peninsula; and Sharks of the World explains the life history of some of the world’s most popular sharks. Guy’s latest film Panama Paradise, about the unique ecosystem of Pinas Bay, Panama, premiered in 2015.

In 2015, Guy expanded his relationship with NSU by securing the naming rights for the NSU Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center and founded the NSU Guy Harvey Marine Science scholarship.

The Man
Guy moved from his beloved Jamaica to the Cayman Islands in 1999. He currently lives in Grand Cayman with his wife, Gillian, and his two children, Jessica and Alex. Both of his children are very accomplished anglers and divers and regularly travel with Guy on his expeditions.

Guy’s work requires him to spend a lot of time on the road, travelling to places all over the world. However, when he’s not on a research expedition, Guy can regularly be seen working on his next masterpiece in his studio on the top floor of the Guy Harvey Gallery and Shoppe in Grand Cayman. Fans and friends are encouraged to visit Guy in his studio and share a fishing story or two.