Holder of several endurance records; prolific writer; explorer and keynote speaker, Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE has tested the limits of human endurance in the name of discovery.
Following in his father's footsteps, Sir Ranulph Twisleton Wykeham Fiennes left Eton and served in the Royal Scots Grey regiment.
But it was in 1969 that his real adventures began. He took the helm of the British Expedition up the White Nile on a hovercraft and was hooked. The following year Ranulph led the the Jostedalsbreen Glacier expedition, and then the Transglobe Expedition, and the circumpolar trip, with his first wife Ginny.
Other expeditions include the Unsupported North Pole Expedition; The Artic Solo Expedition, and Seven Marathons in Seven Days on Seven Continents. In 2009 he became the first person ever to summit Everest and cross both polar ice caps.
Ranulph's adventures have raised millions for various charities. In 1993, he was awarded an OBE for 'Human Endeavour and Charitable Services'.
In 1995 her Majesty the Queen awarded Sir Ranulph with a second clasp to the Polar award that he has previously received, he is the first person to gain a double clasp medal, each of which acknowledges both Arctic and Antarctic achievements.
In 2013 Sir Ranulph was forced to pull out of his Antarctic trek, where he planned to be the first to cross Antarctica in winter. When he took off his gloves in -33C he developed frostbite and returned to the UK.
Also a published author, Sir Ranulph has written 19 books - both fiction and non-fiction.
At the age of 62 Ranulph became a father for the first time with his second wife Louise.