Legend Biography

Realtree Designer and President Bill Jordan was born and raised in Columbus, Georgia, where he spent his youth hunting, fishing and competing in sports of all kinds. He attended Columbus High School and earned All-State Honors as receiver before graduating in 1969.

Bill was highly recruited by many major universities, but decided on Ole Miss, where he played wide receiver, catching passes from football legend Archie Manning.

Following graduation from Ole Miss, Bill returned to Columbus and went to work for his family’s boat dealership, but he always had the urge to have his hand in the hunting market. In 1983, Bill started Spartan Archery Products in a back room of the boat business. The company developed and manufactured a variety of archery clothing and accessories in the basic woodland and WWII camouflage patterns popular at that time.

During this period, Bill began designing and developing the first Realtree camouflage pattern, which he introduced in 1986.

Realtree became popular with hunters very quickly and Bill soon had the idea to license his camouflage designs to manufacturers of all types of hunting gear from boots to bows to waders and more.

Bill never took it for granted that his camo patterns would sell themselves. He always believed in advertising and promotion, and in 1992 created the “Realtree Outdoors” television show, which was one of the first hunting shows ever. The show soon became a favorite of hunters everywhere and led to other Realtree shows and videos such as Monster Bucks, Monster Bulls and Realtree Road Trips.

Bill continued promoting across all types of media, through NASCAR sponsorships with Dale Earnhardt and others, through friendships with numerous country music artists, and he’s always made sure to support the conservation groups that work to keep our habitat and wildlife healthy.

Of course, since so many hunters love to fish as well, Bill recently decided to take the natural step into the fishing market, creating a variety of colorful patterns that fit the lifestyle needs of anglers. The Realtree Fishing brand keeps Bill’s patterns on the market year-round now. Today you can find Realtree camouflage patterns on hundreds of hunting, fishing and general outdoor and lifestyle products.

Bill still resides in Columbus with his wife, Shannon, and three children, Tyler, Graycen and Colton.