Ben Fogle – Keynote Speaker

Ben Fogle is a Presenter, Writer and Adventurer. His achievements include racing 160 miles across the Sahara desert in the notorious Marathon Des Sables. He has rowed the Atlantic Ocean in 49 days and crossed Antarctica in a foot race to the South Pole. He has presented numerous programme’s including BBC’s Animal Park, Wild In Africa, Countryfile, Crufts, One Man and His Dog and Extreme Dreams. He writes regularly for the Sunday Telegraph and the Independent and has written four bestselling books. He is an ambassador for WWF, Medcins Sans Frontier and Tusk, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the President of the Campaign for National Park’s.

In 2000 Ben Fogle volunteered to be marooned on Taransay, a remote windswept island in the Outer Hebrides as part of the BBC’s big millennium project Castaway 2000.

Ben has travelled extensively in South and Central America and has toured the world for various broadcasting assignments.

While filming the latest series of Extreme Dreams in Peru, Fogle caught leishmaniasis, which left him bedridden for three weeks on his return home. He was treated at London’s Hospital for Tropical Diseases. Ben Fogle went on to make a documentary, Make Me a New Face, about children suffering from flesh-eating bacteria called noma in Ethiopia.

Ben Fogle has published three books, The Teatime Islands, Journey’s to Britain’s Faraway Outposts and Offshore in search of an island of my own. He co-wrote the bestseller The Crossing, together with James Cracknell. His fourth book, Race to the South Pole was published in 2009.

Ben writes a weekly Country Diary for the Sunday Telegraph, a green column in Sky magazine and his writing has appeared in numerous other titles.

Ben’s sporting achievements have included beating actor Sid Owen in a three round charity boxing match for BBC Sport Relief. He has completed the Marathon Des Sables, a one hundred and sixty mile, six day, self sufficient race across the Sahara Desert which he ran for WWF. He has completed the Safaricom Marathon in Kenya for the TUSK Trust, the Bupa Great north Run, the London Marathon, Tough Guy, Man versus Horse and the Royal Parks Half marathon. In 2005 he rowed across the Atlantic Ocean with Double gold Olympic medallist,oarsman James Cracknell. He is currently training for the inaugral Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race, a 500 mile footrace across the Antarctic to the South Pole.

Ben has won a Royal Television Society (RTS) award for the highly acclaimed Through Hell and High Water and has been nominated as TV personality of the year and as best new talent.

His first book, The Teatime Islands was short listed for the WH Smith’s people’s award for Best Travel book. Ben has also been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Portsmouth.

Ben is a fellow of the Royal Geographic society, an Ambassador for WWF and Tusk. He is also a keen supporter of the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme and Hearing Dogs for Deaf People and President of the Campaign for National Parks.

Ben has his Ocean Yachtmaster, and coastal skipper certificates, and is a qualified Dinghy sailor. Ben also has his NAUI Scuba licence and he is fluent in Spanish.

Ben is in great demand on the corporate circuit as an awards presenter and motivational speaker.