Brian Gerard O'Driscoll (born 21 January 1979) is an Irish former professional rugby union player.

O'Driscoll is the sixth most-capped player in rugby union history, having played 141 test matches: 133 for Ireland (83 as captain), and 8 for the Lions.

He is also involved in a number of business ventures including the Ultimate Rugby mobile app[10] and Zipp, an Irish e-scooter start-up.

[15] Another cousin of Frank's, Barry's brother John, represented Ireland 26 times and was a member of the Lions teams that toured South Africa in 1980 and New Zealand in 1983.

[21] After leaving school, he attended University College Dublin (UCD) on a scholarship and graduated with a Diploma in Sports Management in 1998.

That year, O'Driscoll returning from a shoulder injury suffered on the Lions tour, would assume the captaincy for the season.

Under backs coach David Knox and the movement of Argentine international Felipe Contepomi to fly half, the Leinster backline became one of the most potent in Europe.

In 2008, Leinster won that title ahead of Munster, marking O'Driscoll's second honour with the province, his first and only as captain.

While retaining the Irish captaincy under new coach Declan Kidney, he handed the honour of Leinster captain to Leo Cullen.

When O'Driscoll was absent through injury in April 2009, Leinster relinquished their Magners League crown to Munster at Thomond Park.

The 19–16 Heineken Cup victory included a drop goal from O'Driscoll who was suffering from a shoulder injury.

[30] Having suffered a knee injury in a Magners League game one week before the final, O'Driscoll was a major doubt, but he recovered sufficiently and was named in the starting XV.

His final act as a rugby player was assisting club captain Leo Cullen – who also finished his career on this day – in lifting the Pro12 trophy[34][35] In 1999, O'Driscoll was selected for the senior squad and was on the bench for a match against Italy, although he did not play.

[2][36] O'Driscoll's popularity in Ireland was expressed by supporters wearing T-shirts bearing the motto "In BOD We Trust".

[37] In 2002, O'Driscoll was handed the captaincy for the first time in Ireland's 18–9 win over Australia, the first Irish victory over the Wallabies since 1979.

[38] In 2003, following the international retirement of long-time Ireland captain Keith Wood, O'Driscoll was awarded the captaincy on a permanent basis.

[39] In 2009, O'Driscoll was again selected as captain, leading Ireland to win the Triple Crown, Six Nations Championship and their first Grand Slam in 61 years.

[45] The next day, he was named as one of the seven nominations for the 2009 International Rugby Board player of the year, but controversially missed out to Richie McCaw for this title by a solitary point.

In his absence, Keith Earls was chosen to partner inside centre Gordon D'Arcy, starting four of the five championship games in the position usually occupied by O'Driscoll.

[51] Declan Kidney named O'Driscoll's Leinster teammate Jamie Heaslip as captain, in his place.

Prior to that tour, he had been named captain of the Northern Hemisphere side for the IRB Rugby Aid Match (a 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami fundraiser) held at Twickenham in March 2005, but was forced to withdraw due to a shoulder injury, but appeared pitch-side for the match.

However, four months later, The International Rugby Board's communications manager Greg Thomas stated "that dangerous tackles like this have no part in the game".

Although unable to play, O'Driscoll remained as non-playing captain on a losing tour and only underwent surgery on his return.

He then released a DVD entitled Brian O'Driscoll's Lions Diary in which he described his tour experience and his opinion of the events that transpired.

[62] On 21 April 2009, O'Driscoll was selected as part of the 2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa.

[67] O'Driscoll has appeared three times for the invitational Barbarians rugby team: against South Africa on 10 December 2000, against Scotland on 22 May 2004, and against England on 30 May 2004.

[73] O'Driscoll was in a long-term relationship with model and TV3 Xpose presenter Glenda Gilson for a number of years until they split up in 2005.

A revised and extended version of Stead's book was published in August 2011, Brian O'Driscoll: The Biography.

In 2009, O'Driscoll stated in a post-game interview after the Six Nations Championship match against England, "Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.

[82] On 18 May 2011, O'Driscoll attended a state dinner hosted by President Mary McAleese to mark Queen Elizabeth II's visit to the Republic of Ireland.