He is the son of Anna Elizabeth (Long) and Col. Claude C. McRaven, a Spitfire fighter pilot in World War II[4][5] who played briefly in the NFL,[6][7] and has two older sisters.

[10][11] McRaven holds a master's degree from the Naval Postgraduate School, where he helped establish and was the first graduate from the Special operations/Low intensity conflict curriculum.

[12][13] In 1982, as a junior officer, McRaven received assignment to SEAL Team Six in Dam Neck, Virginia under the command of CDR Richard Marcinko and completed a specialized selection and training course.

McRaven was the deputy to General Stanley A. McChrystal and later leader of a battle group targeting Al Qaeda in Iraq called 'Task Force 714', which proved to be innovative and highly successful.

[20] After McRaven took command of JSOC in 2008 he was prompted to request that a unit be stood up to deal with engaging female Afghans on different special operations in Afghanistan.

The transfer ceremony was led by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in Tampa, with ADM Eric T. Olson also in attendance, two days after the Wardak Province helicopter crash which cost 30 Americans, including 22 SEALs, their lives.

[6] McRaven is credited for organizing and overseeing the execution of Operation Neptune Spear,[25] the special ops raid that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011.

The day before the assault, President Obama "took a break from rehearsing for the White House Correspondents Dinner that night to call Admiral McRaven, to wish him luck".

During the last few years of his career he was also Bull Frog, the longest serving Navy SEAL still on duty, having succeeded his SOCOM predecessor Eric T. Olson in the title.

Boosters for a potentially competing institution, the University of Houston, criticized the proposed UT expansion "almost immediately after the system announced the land deal."

In early 2017, McRaven recommended that the UT Board of Regents approve a plan to sell the land and back out of the expansion, which he revealed would have included a data science center.

[44] On October 17, 2019, McRaven published an op-ed in The New York Times with the headline "Our Republic Is Under Attack From the President", arguing that if Trump did not demonstrate leadership, he was to be replaced.

He elaborated his position in a CNN interview the same day, saying that Trump was undermining domestic institutions and damaging America's international standing, especially with respect to the treatment of the Kurds during the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria.

[45] Upon the February 2020 dismissal by the president of Joseph Maguire for having briefed congressional intelligence committee members about emerging evidence of foreign efforts to interfere in the 2020 presidential election, McRaven authored a guest editorial in The Washington Post in which he declared that, "As Americans, we should be frightened — deeply afraid for the future of the nation.

When good men and women can't speak the truth, when facts are inconvenient, when integrity and character no longer matter, when presidential ego and self-preservation are more important than national security — then there is nothing left to stop the triumph of evil.

"[46] Admiral William McRaven emphasized the global necessity for U.S. leadership, highlighting concerns among allies about potential U.S. withdrawal from international affairs if former President Trump is reelected.

[53] In a comprehensive interview, Admiral William McRaven discussed the importance of sustained U.S. leadership on the global stage, particularly as the 2024 election approaches with concerns over potential isolationist policies.

[56] In March 2024, McRaven was granted $50-million Courage and Civility Award by Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sánchez in recognition of his services to the community.