How to get on a Watchlist (S3, E2): How to live a double life

In this episode, we speak to Colonel Olivier Mas about his experience as a clandestine officer for France’s DGSE, the work that goes into creating backstories, and the high stakes world of covert Human Intelligence.

A graduate of the École de Guerre, Colonel Mas worked for 15 years at the DGSE. His first years were spent in service to a special unit dedicated to undercover operations. It was here that he became adept at establishing a false identity or “légende” in French, to carry out operations around the world. Next, Mr. Mas joined the Intelligence Directorate, where he was successively responsible for counter-terrorism activities and political intelligence as well as counter-espionage. Twice, he acted as head of station in sensitive areas overseas and/or high-security environments. Mr Mas left active service in the summer of 2017 to launch a YouTube channel called « Talks with a Spy » (which now boasts 174,000 subscribers). He is the author of two books on the world of intelligence: Profession : Espion (Profession: Spy) from the publishing house Les Éditions Hoëbeke, and J’étais un autre et vous ne le saviez pas (I was someone else and you didn’t know it) from the publishing house Les Éditions de l’Observatoire. Mr. Mas is an expert lecturer and regular speaker for both private companies (Air France, Vinci, Matra, Rothschild group, etc) and for the media. His latest project — a novel entitled Le Walk-In (The Walk-In) — will be published by the publishing house Les Éditions Flammarion in October 2024.

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How to Live a Double Life – How to get on a Watchlist

In this episode, we speak to Colonel Olivier Mas about his experience as a clandestine officer for France's DGSE, the work that goes into creating backstories, and the high stakes world of covert Human Intelligence. A graduate of the École de Guerre, Colonel Mas worked for 15 years at the DGSE.  His first years were spent in service to a special unit dedicated to undercover operations. It was here that he became adept at establishing a false identity or “legend” in French, to carry out operations around the world. Next, Mr. Mas joined the Intelligence Directorate, where he was successively responsible for counter-terrorism activities and political intelligence as well as counter-espionage. Twice, he acted as head of station in sensitive areas overseas and/or high-security environments. Mr Mas left active service in the summer of 2017 to launch a YouTube channel called « Talks with a Spy » (which now boasts 174,000 subscribers).  He is the author of two books on the world of intelligence: Profession : Espion (Profession: Spy) from the publishing house Les Éditions Hoëbeke, and J’étais un autre et vous ne le saviez pas (I was someone else and you didn’t know it) from the publishing house Les Éditions de l’Observatoire.  Mr. Mas is an expert lecturer and regular speaker for both private companies (Air France, Vinci, Matra, Rothschild group, etc) and for the media.  His latest project — a novel entitled Le Walk-In (The Walk-In) — will be published by the publishing house Les Éditions Flammarion in October 2024.If you like this show, don’t forget to subscribe on your podcast platform of choice. Please also consider supporting our work via a Patreon subscription (getting you access to early releases and other perks), or by tipping us on Ko-fi. While the topics we discuss here are often shrouded in secrecy and security classifications, we really hope you’ll tell your friends about us!

If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe on your podcast platform of choice. Please also consider supporting our work via a Patreon subscription (getting you access to early releases and other perks), or by tipping us on Ko-fi. While the topics we discuss here are often shrouded in secrecy and security classifications, we really hope you’ll tell your friends about us!

Books and media mentioned during the episode, and suggestions for further research on this topic:

• Profession : Espion (Profession: Spy) (Olivier Mas)
• J’étais un autre et vous ne le saviez pas (I was someone else and you didn’t know it) (Olivier Mas)
• Le Walk-In (The Walk-In) (Olivier Mas)

Additional reading suggestions can be found on our 2024 geopolitical reading list.

Purchases made using the links in this article earn referrals for Encyclopedia Geopolitica. As an independent publication, our writers are volunteers from within the professional geopolitical intelligence community, and referrals like this support future articles.

The hosts:

Lewis Sage-Passant is a researcher in the field of intelligence and espionage, and a former British Military Intelligence Officer. Lewis holds a PhD from Loughborough University in intelligence studies, and is an adjunct professor in intelligence at Sciences Po Paris. He has extensive experience working and living in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions in a variety of geopolitical analysis and intelligence roles, supporting the energy industry, the financial sector, leading technology firms, and the pharmaceuticals sector. He has appeared in numerous media outlets, including the BBC, France24, CNBC, Harvard Business Review, The New Arab, El Mundo, GQ, and others, discussing intelligence, geopolitics, and security topics.

Aleksandra Szylkiewicz is co-editor of Encyclopedia Geopolitica and a multilingual security and intelligence professional, with a Master’s in International Security from Sciences Po Paris. Aleksandra has served in both consulting and in-house roles, bridging the gap between analysis and operations, and focussing on threat identification and monitoring, geopolitical intelligence and strategy, and security support to various public and private audiences.

The production team:

Producer: Edwin Tran

Additional credit goes to several unnamed members of the Encyclopedia Geopolitica team, as well as our colleagues in the intelligence and security community who helped to make this podcast possible.

If you liked this episode, don’t forget to sign up to our mailing list and subscribe on your podcast platform of choice. Please also consider supporting our work via Patreon. While the topics we discuss here are often shrouded in secrecy and security classifications, we really hope you’ll tell your friends about us!