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Ash Dykes
Ash is a British explorer, extreme athlete, and five-time world-first record holder who has completed some of the most daring expeditions of modern times. An Amazon best-selling author and motivational speaker, he shares powerful lessons on resilience, leadership, and adaptability, drawing on experiences of survival, risk, and determination in some of the planet’s harshest environments.
About Ash Dykes
Ash Dykes is one of the world’s most daring modern-day explorers – a five-time world-first record holder, Amazon best-selling author, and motivational speaker known for pushing human limits in some of the harshest environments on Earth. His extraordinary expeditions have taken him from the icy peaks of China to the scorching deserts of Mongolia, facing wolves, crocodiles, armed bandits, deadly malaria, and 40°C heat – all while navigating some of the planet’s most unforgiving terrains.
He was the first person to hike the entire 4,000-mile Yangtze River in China, a 352-day journey where he survived landslides, hid from bears, and overcame extreme altitudes. He became the first to traverse the length of Madagascar’s interior, summiting its eight highest mountains in just 155 days while surviving crocodile-infested rivers, a gunpoint hold-up, and contracting the deadliest strain of malaria. In Mongolia, he became the first recorded person to hike 1,500 miles solo across the country, hauling a 120kg trailer across the Altai Mountains and Gobi Desert with no support or evacuation plan. Most recently, he led a groundbreaking expedition in the Surinamese jungle, discovering an uncharted river and travelling from source to sea – a feat never before accomplished.
Described by Sir Ranulph Fiennes as “an example of great determination, achieving something that’s becoming harder all the time – an adventuring first,” Ash doesn’t just share tales of endurance. His keynotes explore resilience, mindset, and leadership, providing practical tools for decision-making under extreme pressure and showing how to stay disciplined and focused when everything is against you. Drawing clear parallels between survival in the wild and success in the corporate world, his talks empower audiences to embrace risk, adapt to change, and thrive under pressure.
Ash has completed two UK speaking tours, delivered talks across Asia, given three TEDx presentations, spoken in Parliament, and been invited twice to 10 Downing Street. Named UK Adventurer of the Year and celebrated for redefining modern exploration, he offers audiences a rare perspective on performance and growth – lessons forged not in classrooms, but in some of the world’s most extreme conditions.
“Just because no one has found a way to do something, doesn’t mean it can’t be done. In survival or in business – it’s how you respond when the plan fails that sets you apart.”
To book Keynote Speaker Ash Dykes, contact The Speakers Agency on +44(0)1332 810481 or email enquiries@thespeakersagency.com.
- Leadership under pressure – Leading solo in high-stakes expeditions mirrors executive decision-making in times of crisis with clear thinking, and decisive action. True leadership is how you show up when certainty vanishes and pressure is high.
- Resilience & adaptability – Building resilience as a repeatable habit through structure, mindset, and micro-stress exposure – managing risk, thriving through uncertainty, not just surviving it.
- Innovation through constraint – Lessons from operating with zero comfort or resources, sparking problem solving and creativity under extreme limits and restraints mirrors the kind of thinking businesses need to thrive in tough markets.
- Team dynamics under pressure – In unpredictable environments, trust, emotional intelligence, and communication become critical. Mutual accountability and calm hold teams together when stakes are high. The same principles apply in business: clarity, structure, and mindset are the anchors that drive effective decision-making in moments of chaos.
- Success is structure, not luck – World-first achievements come from repeatable frameworks that apply to team performance and goal execution
- Discomfort as a training ground – Real growth happens outside of comfort zone. Resilience and innovation begin there.
