Nick Offerman's Real Name: Nick Offerman

Quick answer: Nick Offerman uses his own name. He was born on June 26, 1970, in Joliet, Illinois, and was raised in nearby Minooka. He is best known as Ron Swanson on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation, a role that won him a Television Critics Association Award. He is also a woodworker, humorist, and New York Times bestselling author (Illinois Center for the Book; Library of Congress).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress files him as "Offerman, Nick, 1970-," and its notes give his birth date as June 26, 1970, in Joliet, Illinois. The Illinois Center for the Book, which includes him among the state's authors, says he was born in Joliet, raised in Minooka, attended Minooka Community High School, and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

In 1993, the Center says, he and a group of fellow students co-founded the Chicago theater company Defiant Theatre. In the mid-1990s he worked with the Steppenwolf, Goodman, and Wisdom Bridge theater companies in Chicago; at Steppenwolf he also worked as a fight choreographer and master carpenter. A middle name appears in some online databases but not in the Library of Congress record or the Illinois authors biography used here, so this page uses Nick Offerman.

Career highlights

The Illinois Center for the Book says Offerman is widely known for his breakout role as Ron Swanson in Parks and Recreation, for which he received the Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy. The sitcom also starred Amy Poehler. After it ended, his first major television role was Karl Weathers in the FX series Fargo, which brought a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination for best supporting actor in a movie or miniseries.

He is also the author of Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living, Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Gutsiest Troublemakers, and Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Woodshop. With his wife, Megan Mullally, he co-wrote The Greatest Love Story Ever Told. The Illinois authors profile describes him as an actor, writer, humorist, and carpenter, and notes that he captains Offerman Woodshop, which produces handmade furniture and other woodwork.

Name notes for searchers

Nick is the short form he uses professionally and in his books. Offerman is his family surname. He lives and works under that name, including at Offerman Woodshop.