Jack O'Neill is an American businessman, often credited with the invention of the wetsuit

Wetsuit

A wetsuit is a garment, usually made of foamed neoprene, which is worn by surfers, divers, windsurfers, canoeists, and others engaged in water sports, providing thermal insulation, abrasion resistance and buoyancy. The insulation properties depend on bubbles of gas enclosed within the material,...

. In 1952 he opened one of California's first surf shops in a garage on the Great Highway in San Francisco, close to his favorite bodysurfing break, which lead to the establishment of a company that deals in wetsuits, surf gear, and clothing. Jack O'Neill's name is attached to surfwear and his brand of surfing equipment.

In December 1996 he also began a non profit organization called O'Neill Sea Odyssey

O'Neill Sea Odyssey

O'Neill Sea Odyssey is a non-profit organization located in Santa Cruz, California . It was founded in 1996 by wet suit innovator Jack O'Neill and provides students with hands-on lessons on marine habitat and the relationship between the oceans and the environment.The program provides a free...

 which provides students with hands-on lessons in marine biology

Marine biology

Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather...

and that teaches the relationship between the oceans and the environment.