James Cracknell OBE

James Cracknell OBE is a double Olympic rowing champion, endurance adventurer and broadcaster. He speaks about high performance, resilience and adapting to change, drawing on Olympic finals, extreme expeditions and his recovery from a serious brain injury.

James won Olympic gold in the coxless four at Sydney 2000 and again at Athens 2004, and won six World Championship titles in the coxless four and coxless pair. He was appointed OBE for services to sport in the 2005 New Year Honours.

After retiring from competitive rowing in 2006 he took on a series of endurance challenges for the BBC and Discovery. With Ben Fogle he rowed the Atlantic in just under 50 days, documented in the BBC series Through Hell and High Water and his book The Crossing. In 2009 he raced to the South Pole with Fogle and Dr Ed Coats, a journey broadcast as On Thin Ice and told in Race to the Pole. He has also completed the Marathon des Sables and the Yukon Arctic Ultra.

In 2010, while attempting to cross the United States by bike, run, row and swim, he was struck from behind by a truck while cycling in Arizona and suffered a brain injury. After months of rehabilitation he returned to endurance racing in the Yukon. The story was broadcast on Discovery as Unstoppable, and he has since become an advocate for people living with brain injury as vice president of Headway.

In 2019, aged 46 and studying for an MPhil at Cambridge, he rowed for Cambridge in the Boat Race and won, becoming the oldest competitor in the event's history. He has since coached rowers, including at Vesta Rowing Club.

James commentates on major events, including the Olympics, for the BBC and Discovery, and has worked with brands including American Express, Renault, Dove Men + Care and Hydrow. He is a patron of the RNLI and has contributed to Policy Exchange work on obesity and physical activity. On stage he brings energy, humour and first-hand stories about setting ambitious goals, working as a team under pressure and rebuilding when plans fall apart.