Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw in Tracker: Cast Profile

Quick Answer

Justin Hartley plays Colter Shaw in Tracker, the CBS action-drama he has led since its record-setting premiere after Super Bowl LVIII on February 11, 2024. Colter is a lone-wolf survivalist and reward seeker who travels the country finding missing people — the role at the center of all three seasons, adapted from Jeffery Deaver's novel The Never Game. Hartley is also a producer on the series. Start with the Colter Shaw character guide or the Season 3 premiere recap.

The Role

Justin Hartley's Role in Tracker

Justin Hartley is the face of Tracker — he appears in every episode as Colter Shaw, the survivalist reward seeker the series is built around. Beyond the lead role, Hartley works behind the camera as a producer, shaping the show's direction since its 2024 debut.

The part pairs his background in long-running network drama with the physicality the role demands: Colter spends as much time reading terrain, rappelling into ravines, and talking his way out of trouble as he does interrogating suspects. Season 3 pushes that range further — into grief, family reckoning, and a midseason fugitive arc that leaves the character with no backup and no badge.

Character: Colter Shaw
Series: Tracker (CBS, 2024–)
Status: Series lead · Producer
Appearances: All 55 episodes (S1–S3)

The Character

Colter Shaw, Explained

Full character guide →

Colter Shaw is a lone-wolf survivalist who funds a life on the road by collecting rewards for finding missing persons — the character at the center of Jeffery Deaver's novel The Never Game, adapted for CBS by Ben H. Winters. He reads people and crime scenes the way other people read maps, keeps his personal life in a truck and an Airstream, and answers to almost no one. Beneath the case-of-the-week structure, Colter carries the show's longest-running mystery: the truth about his father's death and the family it shattered — a story that reaches its turning point in Season 3.

On Screen