Gideon Brückner was born in Cradock in the Eastern Cape and qualified as a veterinarian at the University of Pretoria (Onderstepoort) in 1972. He obtained post-graduate degrees in Public and International Administration.
He is married to Elsabé and has 3 children and 3 grandchildren.
During his 34 years in the Government veterinary service of South Africa he was stationed as a state veterinarian in various localities in the country before he moved to the headquarters of veterinary services in Pretoria in 1981. He proceeded through the ranks and held the positions of Director of Veterinary Public Health, Director of Animal Health and Director of Veterinary Services in the National Department of Agriculture before he accepted the post of Chief Director of Veterinary Services in the Western Cape Department of Agriculture in 2001.
In February 2006 he accepted an offer from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to become Head of the Scientific and Technical Department of the OIE in Paris, France. In October 2007 he was promoted to Deputy Director General (Animal Health and International Trade) of the OIE. Dr Brückner has spent his entire career as a veterinarian within provincial, national and international veterinary services. He was responsible for the management of several major animal disease outbreaks in South Africa such as foot and mouth disease, rabies, avian influenza, swine fever and Corridor disease. He has published 39 scientific articles of which 29 as senior author.
He represented South Africa and the OIE on numerous missions and international conferences and served in an expert advisory capacity to international organisations such as the FAO, World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). He chaired several ad hoc expert Groups of the OIE and was an elected member of the Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases of the OIE. In 2005 he was honoured with the Presidents Award of the South African Veterinary Association.