William A. Kolibash was born on February 12, 1944, in Wheeling, West Virginia. He spent his high school years at Wheeling’s own The Linsly School and was awarded a scholarship to Brown University from which he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1966.

Following his graduation from Brown, Bill attended West Virginia University College of Law and received his Juris Doctorate degree in 1969. Following his graduation from law school, he was commissioned as a captain in the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s Corp. Upon being honorably discharged, he began his civilian legal career as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of West Virginia, during which he prosecuted several high-profile corruption cases and as a result received the Department of Justice’s Special Commendation Award for outstanding services in 1980. After serving several months as the court-appointed U.S. Attorney, he was nominated by President Ronald Reagan and approved by the United States Senate as the presidentially appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia in 1982. 

The many awards he received during his service as U.S. Attorney include Federal Executive of the Year in 1991, the same year he was awarded the Distinguished West Virginian by Governor Gaston Caperton. Bill’s tenure as a United States Attorney ended in July of 1993, after which he entered private practice until his retirement in 2024. He is married to the former Rita Scanlon with whom he has three children, including the coauthor of this book, and six grandchildren.