David Finch loves stories.
He is a consulting historian with more than twenty books and articles to his credit. As the author of several books about the Canadian oil industry includin
g Hell’s Half Acre: Early Days in the Great Alberta Oil Patch and histories of the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, the Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists, and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Landmen-he is always researching the history of the “patch.”
After completing high school in Venezuela, David emigrated to Canada at age eighteen and eventually earned a Master’s Degree in post-confederation Canadian history from the University of Calgary.
His interests include social history, the technology westerners have used to develop their natural resource birthright, economic and political institutions, as well as the history of the South Nahanni River in the Northwest Territories.
In 1999 the Petroleum History Society of Calgary awarded Finch the Lifetime Achievement Award for Dedicated Investigation and Professional Scholarship in the Study of Canadian Petroleum History.
David loves the out of doors and with his wife, Jeannie, and daughter, Annie, has camped, hiked, skied, mountain-biked, and canoed in many parts of western Canada. He loves to canoe so much so that he once fell out of a tree while canoeing the Kootenay River in British Columbia. He also builds and restores canoes and has a fine collection of watercraft.
David lives with his family in Calgary.
Professional Highlights
- Petroleum and technological history expert with a Master’s Degree in Canadian History
- Independent Expert Witness in the areas of petroleum and electricity
- Biographer and Researcher of interesting historical figures
- Freelance Historian for The Calgary Herald
- Consultant to government organizations, professional associations, corporations and the public
- Author of more than twenty books about Canadian history
- Researcher for movie projects, museum displays and corporate histories
- Sessional Instructor and Tutor for three universities
David Finch - Historian 