Vanessa O'Brien

Vanessa O’Brien has seen it all; from the dizzying heights of Earth’s highest peaks, to the Eastern Pool of Challenger Deep. As the first woman to reach the tallest and deepest points on the planet, she has witnessed first-hand the varying beauty of Earth, as well as the physical and mental strength needed to push the human body to its limit. When booked for events, Vanessa’s incredible insight thrills audiences, leaving them eager for more heart-stopping stories from some of the most challenging climates on earth. The Guinness World Record holder’s exhausting expeditions taught her the power of endurance, and the importance of mental resilience when faced with the height of Mount Everest. Vanessa instills these skills in her audience, inspiring determination, and a passion for overcoming personal hurdles.

On the 19th of May 2012, Vanessa scaled Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world. Standing at 29,035 feet, the expedition pushed Vanessa to her limits, but with perseverance and self-belief, she successfully trekked to its base camp. Vanessa’s book, ToThe Greatest Heights, documents her journey from struggling businessperson, to Everest mountaineer. Eight years later, she took the extreme to the next level, and dived 10.925km to the bottom of the western Pacific Ocean. Over 11 tense hours, she watched the darkness engulf her submersible, mounting to eight tonnes of pressure. Vanessa entered the Guinness World Record books following this expedition, which took place on the 12th of June, 2020.

Vanessa’s incredible achievement was in aid of Seabed 2030, a project aiming to map the entire ocean floor. In her own words; “currently 80% of the world's seabeds are unmapped”, meaning that we know more about the moon than our oceans. The willpower and mental strength that Vanessa showed to complete these expeditions, is translated to audiences at events. She inspires personal development, teaching them the skills needed to operate at peak performance. Additional achievements including being the first British/American woman to summit K2, and becoming the fastest women to climb the tallest mountains in every continent, completing the feat in just 295 days.

Aside from completing the Explorer’s Grand Slam, where Vanessa reached the Seven Summits and accomplished the Three Pole Challenge, she is a passionate sportsperson. Vanessa raised over $500,000 at the Boston Marathon in 2017 for the American Red Cross, as well as planted the charity’s flag at the North Pole in 2013. Working closely with Forbes, she has supplied photographs for a wealth of motorsports competitions, including The National Hot Rod Association’s Four-Wide Nationals. Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, Member of The Scientific Exploration Society, and winner of the 2019 Fearless Girl and 2018 Explorer of the Year awards, a speaker like Vanessa provides audiences with an insight unlike any other.