He should be about Connery's real age now.
Meant to be the same man from Dr. No to DAD. Craig's films reboot the series, so he's the exception.
I used to view them as 007 being an agent name and number passed from one new agent to the next, but too many references to his personal past negate that for most people.
Still, someone once said when it comes to continuity, take what you want and leave the rest. So I do.
Leiter's comment about 007 being married once in LTK carries more mystery and intrigue when you haven't seen (or ignore - not the same thing really) OHMSS first.