Rick Antonson is the former president & CEO of Tourism Vancouver. Rick was at the helm when that organization launched the successful bid to bring the 2010 Winter Olympic Games to Vancouver and Whistler. Among his volunteer leadership roles Rick was chair of Destinations International (based in Washington, DC), and deputy chair of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (based in Bangkok, Thailand). The tourism and international meetings industry has conferred recognitions in Canada, Europe, the US, and Asia.

Today Rick is a full time author and scriptwriter. His most recent book is Walking With Ghosts in Papua New Guinea, which was published in fall of 2019. The New York Times noted his Route 66 Still Kicks as "One of the best books of the bunch" in a Christmas book roundup. The Chicago Tribune called his To Timbuktu for a Haircut a "travel classic."