Sports Broadcaster
Named to the Order of Canada in December 2011 for both his distinguished broadcasting career of more than 30 years and extensive community and volunteer work across the country, Brian Williams is the host of Olympic Prime-Time on CTV for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Williams also played a leading role in shaping and delivering the network’s coverage of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
Along with his work on the Olympics, Williams is heavily involved in the CFL on TSN broadcasts, conducting weekly interviews with key newsmakers in the Canadian Football League. He also hosts CTV and TSN’s figure skating coverage, sharing with fans his vast figure skating knowledge from some of the sport’s biggest events.
Considered the dean of Olympic sports broadcasting in Canada, Williams reported on his first Olympics at the 1976 Summer Games from Montreal and has covered a total of 12 Olympic Games, as well as every high-profile sporting event around the globe. His resume includes work with the NHL, Major League Baseball, PGA TOUR, Canadian and World Figure Skating Championships, World Cup Skiing, men’s and women’s Rogers Cup events in Toronto and Montreal, Formula One, IRL, Breeders’ Cup, Pan Am Games and Commonwealth Games.
Williams’ respected broadcast style has endeared him to millions of Canadians from coast-to-coast. He has won praise from critics and numerous accolades, including eight Gemini Awards and two Foster Hewitt Awards. In addition, Williams was the recipient of Sports Media Canada’s Outstanding Sports Broadcasting Award for his work on the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame Football Reporters Wing in honour of his contributions to the CFL over the years.
Williams is currently on the Governors Council at North York General Hospital in Toronto and is a former member of the hospital’s Board of Directors. He is a lifetime member of the Board of Directors of the Ronald McDonald Children’s Charities and member of the Board of Directors of the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation. Williams works with Special Olympics Canada and is a former member of the selection committee for Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame located in Calgary. In 2006, Williams received an honourary Doctor of Humane Letters when he delivered the commencement address at his alma matter, Aquinas College, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Earlier this year he was also recognized with an honourary degree from Simon Fraser University.