Inspiring People

Granted, it’s not often you need someone to hold a flaming torch as you enter a Mayan temple in Belize. But when that day comes, we know just the man. Hailed as one of “The World’s 50 Most Extraordinary Pioneers,” Oliver Steeds is something of a legend. A veteran explorer of more than 70 countries, he’s lived with a tribe of cannibals, completed a 1,250 km walk across Mongolia’s Gobi Desert and languished in several foreign jails as a suspected spy.

Oliver also has a passion for unearthing the real history beneath ancient legends. For instance, he recently led a Royal Geographical Society expedition along the Grass Silk Road linking Karakorum, the imperial city of Genghis Khan, to the capital established by his grandson at Xanadu. 

But it’s Oliver’s journalistic spirit that we admire most at Brown + Hudson, because we think of ourselves as investigators in the same vein. Every trip we plan involves a huge amount of in-depth research, and we’re never satisfied until we’ve uncovered the essence of a destination – the real story – to share with clients. 

That’s the impulse that drives everything Oliver does. As a highly regarded investigative journalist, he has a particular interest in civil wars, politics and human rights. In his broadcast work focusing on tribal activism, he’s lived among the Saami, San, Tuareg and Mbuti peoples. And in several clandestine journeys through the jungles of northern Myanmar, he exposed the illegal trading that funds the country’s ruling junta. 

So if you’re intrigued by the idea of exploring somewhere well off the beaten path – maybe searching for a forgotten tribe in the rainforest of Papua New Guinea – we can think of no better guide than Oliver Steeds, a man who makes Indiana Jones seem a little underwhelming. Oliver doesn’t just tell inspiring stories, he lives them. And you can’t get more Brown + Hudson than that.

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