Rick Ness wiki-bio, Tragedy, Gold Rush Career, Net worth, Wife

Of all the cast members featured in Gold Rush, Rick Ness had the most natural progression. He first came into the series as a greenhorn who had little to no idea about mining. After joining Parker’s crew from the second season, Ness slowly climbed through the ranks and went all the way to the position of a foreman. But as Ness neared seven years of working under Parker, he decided that it was time to strike out on his own. So for the 9th season of the show, Ness decided to bring in his own crew and started working as a mine boss. In this article, we will take a closer look at the wiki-bio of Rick Ness.

Early Life of Rick Ness:

Rick Ness was born on the 5th of March, 1981, in Michigan, Escanaba. Born and raised in Michigan, Ness attended the Escanaba Area High School and graduated with the class of 1999. Ness played football in high school and brought his passion for football to college. Even though Ness had all the fundamentals to make it as a pro-football player, he suffered a career-ending head injury while he was still in college.

After graduating from college in 2003, Rick decided to Milwaukee with his mother. After attending a concert where the bassist had a terrible time keeping up, Rick offered to play bass for the band .357 String Band. The band officially formed in 2004 and released three albums 2006’s Ghost Town, 2008’s Fire & Hail, and 2010’s Lightning From The North. The band split in 2011 and while some of the members turned to a solo career, Ness turned to the mine.

Meeting Parker and Gold Rush:

In around 2006/07, the band had just finished a world tour and had arrived at the Southeast Alaskan State Fair. It was there Ness met Parker and expressed a desire to work in mining. Even though Ness had no experience in mining, apart from operating heavy machinery in his family-owned construction in Escanaba, he received a call from Parker nine months later. Parker asked Ness to join him in Alaska and Ness began making regular appearances from the second season of the show. A heavy machinery expert, Ness operated anything from an excavator to the dozer, loader, rock truck, and grader. After seeing his skills developed over the years, Parker promoted Ness to foreman. Ness worked with Parker for a total of six years before deciding to strike out on his own. At the end of the seventh season, Ness revealed to Parker that he would be leaving the crew and would like to operate his own crew. Parker revealed that he understood Ness’s reasons and wished him the best. Talking about the departure, Ness further revealed,

“I feel like I’ve learned a lot in the last six or seven years that I’ve been doing this, but I don’t know anything about the business side. There’s so much cost there and there’s so much risk there. I do well where I’m at, and you know, it would be a scary thing, quite honestly. It really would. Is it in the cards? I don’t know. Who knows?”

Personal Life:

While Rick has revealed very little about his romantic life, he is quite candid about his family. Born to Richard Ness and Judy Marie Bedard, Rick’s parents divorced when he was quite young. Unfortunately, Rick lost his mother to cancer on March 20, 2018. He also shares a loving relationship with his brother Randy Ness, who is a mechanic and works in the family construction company, Roy Ness Contracting and Sales Inc.

Rick Ness Wiki Facts