Background:

Youngest coroner in the history of L.A. County at age 22. Eight years later, a headhunter recruited him to run the Field Services office in Las Vegas. Grissom has spent the last 15 years helping Las Vegas move from #14 to #2 in the U.S. Crime Lab rankings.

Grissom grew up in Marina Del Rey, California. His mother ran an art gallery in Venice, and his father was in the "import/export" business, dealing primarily with communist China. Grissom's parents divorced when he was five. At eight or nine, Grissom began riding his bike out to the beach every day to collect dead seagulls, possums, and anything else he could find. He would bring the remains home and conduct autopsies, slowly teaching himself the ins and outs of death. As a teenager, Grissom became known to local authorities, who employed him for quick autopsies on dead animals such as cats and dogs. By age sixteen, Grissom was an "unofficial intern" for the L.A. County morgue. He worked his way through college and then went to work full time as the youngest coroner in the history of L.A. County. His philosophy about his work has always been: "If you want to learn about forensics, master everything else first." While others may have a reason for being a CSI, for Grissom the job is not about choice. Grissom could no more work in another profession than a fish could stop swimming. CSI is not a job for Grissom, it's an expression of who he is as a person, the perfect synthesis of personality and profession.

Credits to CBS.com