Born on March 1, 1958 in Lausanne, Bertrand Piccard, married with three children, pursues three parallel careers - practising psychiatrist, aeronaut and public speaker.

After a period working as a senior consultant in a University Hospital, Bertrand specialised jointly in psychiatry and psychotherapy, before opening his own practice. His thesis, "Ordeal : A learning Experience" won an award at the University of Lausanne Medical Faculty in 1996. As a specialist in hypnotherapy, he is a lecturer and supervisor for the Swiss Society for Medical Hypnosis.

Long interested in studying human behaviour under extreme conditions, he was one of the pioneers of hang-glider and micro-light flying in the 1970s, becoming European champion in hang-glider aerobatics in 1985. Introduced to ballooning, he won the first transatlantic balloon race with Wim Verstraeten (the 1992 Chrysler Challenge). He then launched the Breitling Orbiter project to fly around the world, and was captain of all three attempts. With the British aeronaut, Brian Jones, he accomplished the first ever non-stop flight around the world in a balloon, which became also the longest flight in both distance and duration in the history of aviation.