Age, Biography and Wiki

Al J Venter (Albertus Johannes Venter) was born on 25 November, 1938 in Kroonstad, South Africa, is a South African journalist and writer (born 1938). Discover Al J Venter's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is he in this year and how he spends money? Also learn how he earned most of networth at the age of 85 years old?

Popular As Albertus Johannes Venter
Occupation Writer, journalist, and film producer
Age 85 years old
Zodiac Sign Sagittarius
Born 25 November 1938
Birthday 25 November
Birthplace Kroonstad, South Africa
Nationality South Africa

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 25 November. He is a member of famous Writer with the age 85 years old group.

Al J Venter Height, Weight & Measurements

At 85 years old, Al J Venter height not available right now. We will update Al J Venter's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.

Physical Status
Height Not Available
Weight Not Available
Body Measurements Not Available
Eye Color Not Available
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Who Is Al J Venter's Wife?

His wife is Madelon Anne McGregor (m. 1977)

Family
Parents Not Available
Wife Madelon Anne McGregor (m. 1977)
Sibling Not Available
Children 3 sons and 2 daughters

Al J Venter Net Worth

His net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is Al J Venter worth at the age of 85 years old? Al J Venter’s income source is mostly from being a successful Writer. He is from South Africa. We have estimated Al J Venter's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2024 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2024 Under Review
Net Worth in 2023 Pending
Salary in 2023 Under Review
House Not Available
Cars Not Available
Source of Income Writer

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Timeline

1938

Al J. Venter (born Albertus Johannes Venter, 25 November 1938) is a South African war journalist, documentary filmmaker, and author of more than forty books who also served as an Africa and Middle East correspondent for Jane's International Defence Review.

The surname is pronounced "fen-ter".

1956

Venter served in the South African Navy from 1956 to 1960, achieving the rank of Acting Leading Seaman.

He has been twice wounded in combat; once by a Soviet anti-tank mine in Angola, an event that left him partially deaf, and by submachine gun fire.

By his own account, by virtue of his reporting he is persona non-grata in Angola, Ethiopia, Iran, Libya, Syria, the former Soviet bloc (including Afghanistan),Tanzania, Zimbabwe.

Venter originally qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers at the Baltic Exchange in London.

Venter has published over 50 books with a number of publishers.

He wrote one of the first books on the developing guerrilla wars in Central and Southern Africa.

1960

It dealt with Lisbon's escalating guerrilla war in Angola during the 1960s and 1970s that eventually led to the downfall of the government in the Metropolis.

1967

Venter has reported on a number of wars in Africa, starting with the Nigerian Civil War in 1967 where he spent time covering the conflict with colleague Frederick Forsyth, who was working in Biafra for the BBC at the time.

He has published two books on nuclear proliferation, in particular from South Africa to Iran.

1969

That was The Terror Fighters, published by the British company Purnells in Cape Town in 1969.

1970

In the 1970s, Venter also reported in Uganda while under the reign of Idi Amin.

The most notable consequence of this assignment was an hour-long documentary titled Africa's Killing Fields, ultimately broadcast nationwide in the United States by PBS.

In-between, Venter cumulatively spent several years reporting on events in the Middle East, fluctuating between Israel and a beleaguered Lebanon torn by factional Islamic/Christian violence.

In the 1970s and 1980s, he found a wide readership with articles on Africa in England, the United States, and Europe, including Soldier of Fortune (Boulder, CO), Bulletin for Atomic Scientists, Middle East Policy, and Great Britain's Daily Express and Sunday Express, and the short-lived Eagle magazine (New York, NY).

1974

Venter also wrote Coloured - A Profile of Two Million South Africans (Human & Rosseau, Cape Town 1974) which served as an indictment of Pretoria's racial policies and was penned before it became fashionable to be anti-Apartheid.

Unusually progressive for its time, the book highlighted the contribution of Coloured people against apartheid – some of whom went into exile or chose violent resistance.

While he opposed the political system, he got on extremely well with the South African military who subsequently developed a much more realistic approach against racial discrimination.

The anti-apartheid figure Robert McBride found the book to be one of the most influential toward starting his political activism.

Venter has contributed to Britain's Jane's Information Group publications for over 30 years.

He was published, inter alia, by Jane's Defence Weekly, Jane's Intelligence Review, Jane's Terrorism and Security Review, Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst.

Before 9/11, he was reporting in considerable depth on nuclear, chemical and biological warfare developments in both the former Soviet Union and the Middle East.

Venter subsequently wrote three books on related nuclear issues.

Venter has written six books on underwater diving.

1982

He was with the Israeli invasion force when they entered Beirut in 1982.

From there he covered hostilities in Rhodesia, the Sudan, Angola, the South African Border War, the Congo as well as Portuguese Guinea, which resulted in a book on that colonial struggle published by the Munger Africana Library of the California Institute of Technology.

1985

In 1985 Venter made a one-hour documentary that commemorated the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

1990

He also spent time in Somalia with the US Army helicopter air wing in the early 1990s, three military assignments with the mercenary group Executive Outcomes (Angola and Sierra Leone) and a Joint-STAR mission with the United States Air Force over Kosovo.

More recently, Venter was active in Sierra Leone with South African mercenary pilot Neall Ellis flying combat in a Russian helicopter gunship.

That experience formed the basis of the book on mercenaries published recently and titled War Dog: Fighting Other People's Wars.

2012

His major work on free-diving (out of cages) with sharks, was published in 2012.