Paul Teutul Sr was born May 1, 1949 in Yonkers, NY. He enlisted in the Merchant Marines at 18. Paul traveled to multiple countries and delivered ammunition to our troops. Upon returning from Vietnam, Paul bought a 64 international pick up truck from his father and a 4 cylinder Hobart welder.
He started welding farm equipment and grew that one man shop into a 70 person full service Iron fabrication shop. He opened Orange County Ironworks in the early 1970’s.
As the steel shop grew, so did Paul’s skills in steel fabrication.
Paul Sr. was building bikes in the early 1960’s, but work and feeding a family put that on the back burner for a while. Paul Sr’s passion for building bikes never went away. He returned to building custom bikes for pleasure in the basement of his Iron shop.
In 1999, Paul founded Orange County Choppers, a manufacturer of custom motorcycles. Paul brought his bikes to Daytona and landed on the cover of America Iron magazine. Shortly after Paul was approached by Discovery to do a pilot motorcycle show on the east coast, which later became the focus of the reality television series, AMERICAN CHOPPER. AMERICAN CHOPPER debuted in September 2002 on the Discovery Channel and in 2007, Discovery Channel’s sister station, TLC, took over the broadcasting. Then late in 2010, the show returned to its roots and began airing again on the Discovery Channel. In 2013, Orange County Choppers was also featured on the CMT channel.
Orange County Choppers is a world famous custom motorcycle manufacturer. At their facility based in Newburgh, NY, Paul Sr. and his team of custom fabricators design and engineer the most amazing custom bikes in the world.
Paul Sr. has appeared on numerous TV shows, including Celebrity Apprentice, Jay Leno (7 times), David Letterman (11 times), Good Morning America, Jimmy Kimmel, and countless other nationally televised talk shows. Paul Sr’s tough guy image is contradicted by his tireless involvement in various charities Hudson Valley SPCA, Special Olympics, Make-A-Wish, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, and the Boys and Girls Club of America.
Paul Sr has been featured in the music video for Nickelback's "Rockstar", and also in the television programs Long Way Round starring Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman and on King of The Hill . Paul Sr. also played a small role in the 2007 film Wild Hogs. As part of the agreement with the My Name Is Earl bike, they were also featured on an episode of the show.
Besides being OCC’s President, Paul is the Vice President of the Hudson Valley SPCA, a non profit, no kill animal shelter. He is also an author. “The Ride of A Lifetime: Doing Business the Orange County Choppers way” is filled with Paul Sr.’s personal experience in dealing in the business world for close to 40 years.