Owen Hunt, M.D., F.A.C.S., is a fictional character from the medical drama television series Grey's Anatomy, which airs on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States.

He was introduced in Season 5 as a U.S. Army trauma surgeon who served in war-torn Iraq, and subsequently joins the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital to teach medicine as a surgical attending, head of trauma surgery, and eventual chief of surgery, sometimes utilizing unconventional methods.

Hunt served as a love interest for surgical fellow Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) and had an unstable personality when first introduced, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Before his regular appearances on the show, Owen Hunt was a United States Army surgeon, specializing in trauma surgery.

The character makes a dramatic first appearance when he performs a tracheotomy on a man with a pen, winning the admiration of resident Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh).

He is offered a job by former chief of surgery Richard Webber (James Pickens, Jr.), but declines, explaining that he has not completed his tour in Iraq.

By his first week he manages to irk both Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) and Mark Sloan (Eric Dane), head of neurosurgery and plastic surgery, respectively, who view his treatment of some of the patients as crude, and also rebuffed by resident Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) when he stabs a set of pigs and then orders the residents and interns to save their lives, in order to teach them medicine on "live tissue".

[4] Owen brings in Teddy Altman (Kim Raver), his best friend and colleague from when he was in the army, as the new head of cardiothoracic surgery.

[7] Due to the emotional reverberations of the shooting crisis, Owen and Cristina decide to wed one another shortly after their reconciliation, not wanting to risk separation.

[9] In the fallout of resident Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) tampering with Derek Shepherd's Alzheimer's trial, Owen is promoted to Chief of Surgery after Webber steps down.

She had been offered a position at the United States Army Medical Command but chose to stay at Seattle Grace Mercy West out of loyalty.

After Teddy's husband Henry dies she wallows in her grief and it affects her colleagues and residents, causing Owen to "fire" her so that she can have a fresh start elsewhere.

While saying her farewell to her colleagues of the last seven years, there is a possible act of terrorism in Seattle, which later turns out to be just a gas main explosion.

Cristina has a quick but emotional goodbye hug with Derek, Bailey, and Webber; leaves her shares of the hospital to Alex; and dances it out with Meredith one last time to an old favorite song.

Owen decides to pursue his lifelong dream of fatherhood alone and begins fostering Leo, a baby who was given up by his teenage mother.

Owen is upset because he would not have reconciled with Amelia or fostered Leo if Teddy had told him earlier that he was expecting a biological child.

However, Owen continues to exhibit possessive and obsessive behavior over Teddy and her pregnancy, causing Amelia to permanently split from their relationship.

In the beginning of Season 18, Owen and Teddy got married at the Emerald City Bar after their wedding at the Park was interrupted by a bicycle accident.

Shonda Rhimes, the series' creator, stated that the character was envisioned as "an old-fashioned tortured hero" and likened him to Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights.

[17] Originally set to appear in a multi-episode story arc, Kevin McKidd's contract was extended, securing him a place as a series regular on Grey's Anatomy.

[18] In July 2008, Entertainment Weekly reported the possibility of McKidd becoming a series regular, which was eventually confirmed by People Magazine.

[19] When asked of how he got involved with the show, McKidd offered the insight: I was doing a movie off and on for three months, and it was my son's birthday, so I managed to land back in LA.

"[20] McKidd also shared with People Magazine that he thinks Grey's Anatomy is a great show and feels lucky to be part of it.

The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) characterized Hunt as "confident," "innovative," and "intelligent," while also describing him as "aggressive," "brazen," "presumptuous," "hasty," and "rash".

McKidd said of this: "You know, I think, at the end of the day, [Owen]'s basically a good man who has some pretty extreme teaching techniques that he learned in the army.

The character of Owen Hunt had an almost instant attraction to Cristina Yang from his first appearance at Seattle Grace, illustrated by the passionate kiss they share soon after meeting.

[25] Speaking of Owen's PTSD storyline, McKidd stated: "What's exciting about telling this story with this character is that it's quite brave of ABC and Shonda [Rhimes], on a primetime network TV show, to address a tough subject, and one that people don't necessarily want to hear about.

[22] On the other hand, Robert Rorke of the New York Post stated that McKidd was brought in as Hunt to "boost the sagging fortunes" of the show's ratings.

Viewers could clearly see a softening of the typically hard-edged Cristina, a pleasant change for what had become something of a one-note character, as well as relate to Owen's internal struggles, shared by many a real-life war vet.

[31] McKidd, along with the rest of the Grey's Anatomy cast, was nominated for Best Drama Series at the 21st GLAAD Media Awards in 2010.