Omar Samra is famed as a mountain, polar and ocean adventurer, UN Goodwill Ambassador and an aspiring astronaut. Educated with an MBA from the London School of Business, Omar has since forged a successful career as an entrepreneur and made many firsts, such as becoming the first Egyptian to summit Mount Everest and climb the 7-summits. With an inspirational story to tell, Omar is now booked as a speaker for corporate events, covering topics such as survival lessons, leadership lessons, teamwork and team dynamics, entrepreneurship and more.
As an entrepreneur, Omar is widely known as the founder & CEO of Wild Guanabana, the co-founder of Rock ‘n’ Rope and the founding Chairman of the board at Marwa Fayed’s Toy Run. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Omar led a successful corporate career working for eight years in investment banking for HSBC, private equity for ACTIDS and corporate strategy for DHCC, working in locations such as London, Hong Kong, Cairo and Dubai. His contributions as an entrepreneur have earned him many awards, including recognition as one of the 50 Most Powerful Arab Businessmen and one of the Top 40 Most Powerful Arabs Under 40.
As an adventurer, Omar has skied to the geographic North and South Poles, attempted to row 3000 nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean, backpacked for a 370-day journey across 14 different countries across Asia and Latin America and become the only Arab to win the AXE Apollo competition to travel to space- achieving the opportunity against two million applicants in 60 countries. Off the back of his attempt to row across the Atlantic, Omar has starred in the Beyond the Raging Sea documentary, in which his survival and rescue story is told. He has also starred in a 40 minute documentary about his Mount Everest historic expedition.
As an aspiring astronaut, Omar has been a Citizen-Scientist Astronaut Candidate and the Vice-Commander at Lunares 3, continuing to pursue his dream to make it to space. He has also launched the first national space science competition and is on a mission to create the next generation of space engineers, scientists and astronauts. Famed for his feats of adventure, Omar has over 1.5 million social media followers and has made regular TV and radio appearances for the likes of CNN, the BBC and Reuters.
With such a varied and inspirational career to his name, Omar is now booked as a motivational speaker for a variety of corporate events. Referred to as the ‘modern-day Indiana Jones’, Omar draws anecdotes from his rich experiences- from the world’s most challenging landscapes to his corporate career and journey as an entrepreneur. As a speaker, Omar has delivered across 10 countries in five continents, formerly having spoken for the likes of Unilever, Hershey’s, BMW, Danone, GSK and Barclays to name but a few. A seasoned speaker, Omar was also invited to deliver the TEDx speeches One Answer to Life’s Most Important Question and The Long Road to Everest & Beyond. When looking for a speaker with an awe-inspiring and motivational story to tell, book Omar Samra today!
How to hire Omar Samra
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Omar Samra for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
Omar's official speaking topics are listed below:
- Survival Lessons from Rowing Across the Atlantic
- Leadership Lessons from Everest
- Goal-Setting and Preparing to Achieve Under Duress
- Overcoming Adversity and Pushing Boundaries
- The Art of Teamwork and Team Dynamics
- Sustainability in Business and Climate Change
- Entrepreneurship and Following One's Passion
Omar is often booked as a speaker for events, read his latest feedback below.
"Thank you so much for the very inspirational and moving talk you gave last week. You are the best example of a successful, motivated and positive young man who strives to achieve a goal he strongly believes in" - Ali, Country President, Novartis Pharma
"Omar is a very passionate and influential speaker, and his ability to connect with the audience is remarkable. His speech was inspirational and enriching. Everyone present said that they thoroughly enjoyed and valued it. The session was indeed an encouragement and helped us clearly convey the message that we wanted through our workshop" - Fareda, Vice President HR, Majid Al-Futtaim Ventures
"Very inspiring and extremely motivating. Listening to him talking about his trip and the challenges he faced back then, is like an energy booster drink, after it, you can go hunt your dreams for as long as it takes, and as hard as it gets, and if you ever get tired... listen to him again. Keep it up champ!" - Mohamed, Business Planning Director, CEMEX
"Omar gave our audience an extremely inspiring talk about his amazing experiences and the lessons that he learned on his life journey. The attendees were completely engaged by stories of his adventures and his advice on reaching goals and overcoming adversity. We're so happy that Omar was part of our platform and we look forward to having him back in the future" - Rasha, Founder, The Speaker Sessions
"We would greatly love to have you do our presentation again next semester. All those who attended thought it was a very well presented and structure presentation. The Associate Provost, Dr John Swanson who attends zillions of lectured worldwide was really impressed and said that yours was one of the BEST he had ever heard!" - Dr Hoda, Associate Director, The American University in Cairo
- 2017 - Awarded the Esquire: Man At His Best Award as Humanitarian of the Year
- 2016 - Named as one of the 50 Most Powerful Arab Businessmen by Inc. Magazine
- 2015 - Named as one of the Top 40 Most Powerful Arabs Under 40 by Arab Business & named as the Arab Social Media Influencer of the Year in the Tourism Category
- 2014 - Awarded three National Awards from Egypt's Ministry of Youth, Sports & Defense & named MBC Hope Humanitarian Project of the Year
- 2012 - Awarded SME Advisor Stars of Business Award, AME Info Award for Customer Focussed Business of the Year & nominated for Arab Entrepreneur of the Year
- 2011 - Awarded The AUC Board of Trustees Young Alumni Achievement Award, the UK World Travel Market Global Tourism Award & the SME Advisor Award for Tourism & Hospitality
- 2008 - Awarded the AUC Alumni of the Year, Business & Economics Faculty Award
