For Western Australia's outgoing COVID-era chief health officer Andy Robertson, the 2020 spread of the "novel coronavirus" was not the first time he had been part of a story of global significance.

Dr Robertson, who has announced he will retire from his position in February after a 22-year career with WA Health, once hunted for secret anthrax weapons labs across Iraq and found himself in a stand-off with Saddam Hussein's Revolutionary Guard.

The 66-year-old is best known as the quiet, unassuming voice of authority during the COVID-19 pandemic in WA.

He was the one then-premier Mark McGowan repeatedly deferred to when he said time and again the government was following the medical advice in its response to the outbreak.

But in another life, the eyes of the world were on Dr Robertson and

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