Dan Gardner

Gardner’s career began as an investigative journalist, commentator, and columnist for several Canadian media outlets, focusing in part on domestic politics. He wrote for the newspaper Ottawa Citizen, where his work earned or nominated him for all the major Canadian journalism awards. 
 
Since then, Gardner has shifted gears to writing, which has so far led to four books, one of which was a New York Times bestseller. In his book Superforecasting – The Art and Science of Prediction, Gardner explores why humans are generally poor at predicting events, despite the clear advantage this can provide in everything from stock markets to personal life. In the book, Gardner analyses people who have excelled at beating their benchmarks or predicting market movements. 
 
The publication of the book led to Gardner being hired as a consultant to the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his office, where he was tasked with improving their decision-making and analysis of complex information. 
 
In another of Gardner’s books, Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear, he explores the paradox of why humans appear to be more uncertain about the future, despite being the wealthiest and healthiest generation in history. 
 
Gardner holds a bachelor's degree in law from Osgoode Hall Law School and a master's degree in history from York University in Toronto, Canada. He also serves as a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa's Graduate School of Public Policy and International Affairs. 
 
Do you want to better understand risk and uncertainty to make better decisions? Then make sure to catch Dan Gardner at SKAGEN Funds' New Year's Conference 2025.