Steve Thomas is an American TV personality, author and former sailor. He was born in Pomona, California, in 1952. He was the oldest of six children. Steve developed interest in construction from his father and grandfather. His father who worked in a paint manufacturing company used to buy and fix old houses. The grandfather of Steve Thomas, Rooney was also a do-it-yourself guy and Episcopal missionary in Arctic Alaska.

Steve Thomas Rooney earned a bachelor degree in philosophy from the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. During his stay at the college, Thomas used to work as a painting contractor and carpenter in order to support his stay. After graduating he moved from Olympia back to California where started his own home renovation projects. There Steve worked on renovations of old houses until 1980 when he got married with his wife Evelyn Blum and they both moved to Massachusetts. The couple continued with this business and has renovated a number of old houses. Some of those include the 1836 Imperial Revival, a house in which Steve and his wife lived prior their move to Rockport, Maine.

Thomas was always combining his love of woodworking with his passion for sailing. At one time in his life, Thomas worked as a carpenter in Antibes, France. During the 70s and 80s, he spent months sailing on open sea and traveled more than 30,000 miles.

In 1987 Steve Thomas Rooney wrote the book "The Last Navigator" following the time he spent  on the Micronesian island of Satawal, talking to Mau Piailug about ancient techniques of navigating on open sea. Later on, this book served him as a basis for documentary film which was produced for PBS's Adventure series. Several years later, in 1989 Steve Thomas Rooney was invited by the same producers to be the next host of their TV renovation show "This Old House" 

Since becoming host of This Old House Steve managed to make the show one of the best TV series of all time and the highest-rated home improvement series in television history. For that reason, in 1998 Thomas was awarded with DayTime Emmy Award. He made appearances on shows such as The Oprah Winfrey Show, Today, Entertainment Tonight, Good Morning America and others.

Other than the "The Last Navigator" Steve Thomas Rooney has written several books including "This Old House Kitchens," "This Old House Bathrooms," "This Old House Guide to American Houses."