Education
Born in Anglesey he learned to row on the River Wye whilst at Monmouth School (Monmouth Rowing Club), and then attended University College London where he joined the University of London Boat Club.
Born in Anglesey he learned to row on the River Wye whilst at Monmouth School (Monmouth Rowing Club), and then attended University College London where he joined the University of London Boat Club.
He represented Great Britain at six world championships, winning silver and bronze medals. He was coach to the Cambridge University Boat Club for 11 years winning seven Varsity Boat races. From 1983 to 1987 Williams was an advertising manager for the Financial Times, plus working in the Caribbean as a salvage diver.
In 2010 Williams set up Totally Outdoors in Henley, selling outdoor clothing and rowing equipment.
Rowing
Williams rowed for University of London Boat Club and gained his first Great Britain vest in 1981, an international career that lasted 10 years until 1991. Coaching
In the early nineties, whilst rowing for the London Rowing Club, he also got involved with management and coaching, working as part-time coach for three years for the Great Britain lightweights.
Williams stated that "lieutenant was a good springboard for a coaching career because we had Great Britain rowers there. In 1994 he became coach to the Cambridge University Boat Club having rejected a similar position at the Oxford University Boat Club.
From 2005 until 2009 he coached the men"s lightweight crews for Team Great Britain at Henley on Thames and the Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake in Caversham, Berkshire.
In July 2010 he began coaching Helen Glover and Heather Stanning in the women"s coxless pair, such that by November they had improved from their world rankings of 16 and 17 to take the silver medal at the 2010 World Rowing Championships in New Zealand. In 2011 he took them to within 0.08 seconds of the gold medal at the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Slovenia. In 2013 he led Glover and Polly Swann to become World champions at Chungju, South of Korea.
In 2014 he led Glover and Swann to the gold medal at the European Rowing Championships at Ada Ciganlija, Belgrade on 30 May.
This was followed by Glover and Stanning winning the overall title in the World Rowing Cup and then becoming world champions at the 2014 World Rowing Championships held at the Bosbaan, Amsterdam. As of 2014 this represents an unbroken sequence of twelve gold medal victories at world level
Williams was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (Administration Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2013 New Year for services to rowing.