Donation after circulatory death (DCD) liver allografts were first utilized by Dr. Thomas Starzl in 1963. However, after brain death criteria were defined and organ donation after brain death was accepted, more DBD livers became available resulting in a decrease in DCD liver utilization for transplantation. Over subsequent years, as the number of patients on the liver waiting list increased and the number of donors did not increase as rapidly, utilization of DCD allografts became more common to help bridge the gap and improve access to liver transplants. Early DCD liver transplants were met with lower patient and allograft survival and higher rates of post-operative complications including ischemic cholangiopathy. As experience with DCD liver transplant has grown, patient and allograft survival has improved and post-operative complications have declined. Recently, normothermic machine perfusion and normothermic regional perfusion were introduced as alternative strategies to improve outcomes with DCD allografts. Utilization of DCD allografts has been met with increased enthusiasm as patient and graft outcomes have improved, and DCD donors now comprise over one-third of all donors.