Jim Molan is a retired Army officer well known for his media commentary. He has been an infantryman, a helicopter pilot, commander of army units from a thirty man platoon to a division of 15,000 soldiers, commander of the evacuation force from the Solomon Islands in 2000 and with service in East Timor in 1999. In April 2004, Jim deployed for a year to Iraq as the Coalition’s chief of operations, during a period of continuous and intense combat. For distinguished command and leadership in action in Iraq, Major General Molan was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by the Australian Government and the Legion of Merit by the United States Government.

Jim has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of New South Wales and a Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Queensland. He is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is an accredited Master Project Director. Jim is also an Indonesian speaker.

In August 2008, General Molan published his book Running the War in Iraq, which is a double best seller. 

Following the 2013 federal election, he was appointed for a year to the full time position of the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Operation Sovereign Borders.