Background
In his youth, he moved to Tanzania, where his father worked as a geologist.
In his youth, he moved to Tanzania, where his father worked as a geologist.
From 1969 to 1970, he studied at a high school in Tanzania. In 1979 he graduated in geology from the Charles University in Prague.
Later he continued his studies at the Mining Technical School in Příbram (1970–1974). Since 1980, he works in Geologic Institute of Czechoslovakian Academy of Sciences and specializes on geology of Cenozoic Era. He also explores interactions between environment and civilization.
Between 2004 to 2012, he was the director of the Geologic Institute of Czechoslovakian Academy of Science.
Cílek also published several popularization books and many articles in journals and newspapers. During his career, he collaborated with Hospodářské noviny, Lidové noviny, Mladá fronta DNES, Mladý svět, Právo, Reflex, Respekt, Czechoslovakian Television, Czechoslovakian Radio et cetera
He was a co-creator of the television series about caves of the Czechoslovakian Republic, called Podzemní Čechy (The Underground Czechoslovakian Republic, 2001). Additionally, he was named Laureate by the Minister of Ecology for "valuable contribution to the popularization of Czechoslovakian science, especially geology and climatology" (2007).