Garett Bolles

Early life

Bolles was born in Walnut Creek, California on May 27, 1992. His family moved to Lehi, Utah. After being kicked out of his father's home, Bolles was picked up by the Freeman family, and rebuilt his life by reactivating himself as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He attended Westlake High School in Saratoga Springs, Utah. Bolles played on the offensive and defensive lines in high school while also competing in lacrosse. While at Westlake, Bolles was arrested and suspended for three games after he and four other players extensively vandalized rival Lehi High School's football field.

Instead of playing college football straight out of high school, Bolles went on an LDS Church mission in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

College career

Following his LDS Church mission, Bolles attended Snow College, where he played for the Badgers for two years before transferring to the University of Utah in 2016. Bolles earned NJCAA first-team All-America honors following his sophomore season at Snow College, starting all 11 games played. He was named the 2015 Western State Football League Offensive Player of the Year in addition to picking up All-WSFL first-team honors. Bolles helped Snow College finish No. 2 in the NJCAA rankings after winning the WSFL championship and Salt City Bowl.

Bolles signed with Utah as the No. 1 overall junior college prospect in 2016. Bolles was named to the All-Pac-12 Conference First-team in his only season with the University of Utah after opening all 13 games played (891 total snaps) at left tackle. He contributed to the Utes averaging close to 30 points per game and helped Utah's rushing offense rank third in the Pac-12 with 214.0 rushing yards per game. Bolles played on an offensive line that allowed just 2.1 sacks per game. After the season, Bolles decided to forgo his senior year and enter the 2017 NFL draft.

Personal life

As a former troubled youth, Bolles has made an effort to assist and mentor juveniles involved in the justice system. He has been actively involved in juvenile probation and court mentorship programs in Arapahoe County, and regularly attends court hearings and events at the Marvin W. Foote Youth Services Center. For his contributions, Bolles was awarded the Raymond C. Frenchmore Juvenile Law Award by the Arapahoe County Bar Association in June of 2023.

Bolles has three children with his wife, Natalie: a son, Kingston, and two daughters, Ariyah and Zaya. In 2021, his son was diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), a speech disorder that causes difficulty speaking from a young age. Bolles himself grew up dealing with ADHD. To support children with learning disabilities, Bolles founded the GB3 Foundation, a non-profit focused on improving their education strategies, mental health, and physical wellbeing. In August of 2025, Bolles and speech pathologist Jennie Bjorem opened the Bjorem & Bolles Apraxia Education Initiative training center, a facility made to assist educators and speech pathologists to diagnose and treat children with CAS. Following this, Bolles was named the NFLPA Community MVP for Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season. Bolles was also the recipient of the 2026 NFLPA Alan Page Community Award in recognition of his charity work.