Thomas Michael Hoare was born in 1920 in Kolkata (Calcutta),India to Irish parents. He spent his early days in Ireland and was educated in England. He served in North Africa as an Armour officer in the British Army during World War II, and achieved the rank of Captain. In 1948, he emigrated to Durban, Natal Province, Union of South Africa, where he ran safaris and became a soldier-for-hire in various African countries.

His most well known exploits are when he served as the commander of 5 Commando in the Congo from 1964-1965 and commanded the failed coup d'état in the Seychelles in November 1981; for which he served thirty-three months in prison. Hoare also served as the technical adviser on the 1978 film "The Wild Geese" based on the novel by the same name.

Hoare married Elizabeth Stott in New Delhi in 1945 and together they had three children, Chris, Tim and Geraldine.

After divorcing in 1960, he married Phyllis Sims in 1961 and they had two children, Michael Jeremy and Simon.

Hoare died of natural causes on 2 February 2020 in a care facility in Durban, South Africa at the age of 100.