Ben Ryan Keynote Speaker

Olympic gold-winning coach: Fiji Rugby Sevens (Rio 2016)
Director of Elite Performance, Brentford FC (appointed 2022)
Author of 'Sevens Heaven' (William Hill shortlist, 2018)

Ben Ryan's Biography

Ben Ryan is an Olympic gold medal-winning coach, bestselling author, and high-performance strategist trusted by top-level teams in sport, business, and government.

Best known for his groundbreaking leadership of the Fiji Rugby 7s team, Ben took a group of under-resourced athletes and transformed them into world champions–all through a philosophy centred on trust, identity, and cultural alignment. Their historic gold at Rio 2016 wasn’t just a sporting triumph, it was a masterclass in leadership, unity, and belief.

Today, Ben applies those same principles to help businesses drive sustainable high performance. As Performance Director at Brentford Football Club, and advisor to organisations across finance, tech, and the public sector, he translates elite sporting insight into practical strategies for leadership, culture, and transformation.

Ben’s storytelling is powerful, honest, and practical. He helps audiences cut through complexity and return to what really drives results: trust, clarity, purpose, and a shared mission.

Creating and maintaining the right environment and culture for peak performance

Embedding the elements of ‘psychological safety’ that allow team members to flourish and thrive

Leadership, coaching, upmanaging and playing your individual role within a team

Collaboratively establishing 'guardrails' to enable better decision-making, and creating and upholding consistent behaviours within those

"The standard you walk past is the standard you become"

Understanding individuals' motivation, and using their "why" and purpose to drive performance

He tells some of his incredible stories particularly from his time in Fiji that culminated with the rugby 7s team winning the country's first ever Olympic medal, and uses those to share some of the techniques and tools he has used throughout his career that have helped him to:

Create a culture framework and nurture those values
Get the best out of himself and others
Establish a growth mindset
Navigate change
Find the mental strength and resilience to cope with tough situations
Create opportunities that lead to brilliant results
Design collaborative environments

He brings Olympic gold credentials as one of the most successful coaches of his generation, giving leaders a proven perspective on building winning teams under pressure.
He demonstrates leadership through simplicity by cutting through noise to focus on what matters, helping organisations align priorities and execute with clarity.
He is a culture architect who builds trust, cohesion and shared purpose in teams, strengthening the behaviours that drive performance and resilience.
He is in-demand across sectors and equally trusted by boardrooms, sports teams and governments, delivering insights that translate across contexts and motivate audiences to act.

Videos of Ben Ryan

Ben Ryan Speaker Showreel

Articles, Media & Podcasts

Podcast | Gold Standard: Ben Ryan On The Game Behind The Game

Accelerating Excellence with James King

Books by Ben Ryan

Sevens Heaven: The Beautiful Chaos of Fiji's Olympic Dream

Comments & Testimonials

"Ben absolutely hit the right note and our clients loved him! His session brought the day to a brilliant close it was so inspiring and uplifting, with some incredibly clear and relevant leadership reflections. It was also so good of Ben to stay behind and chat to all the people going up to him with questions at the end. Absolutely wonderful!”

Learning & Development Manager – Global Law Firm

“Ben’s story is one that resonated so well with the entire company, he is such a humble and likeable person that his keys messages really struck a chord and could not have been more perfect for us. Ben talks about high performance teams in such simple terms that they can easily be adopted and introduced in the organisation. When picking a leadership speaker it is tricky to find one that can really inspire and motivate the entire team, however Ben managed this and I could not recommend him more highly; I am confident that his presentation would be a hugely inspiring session for any company.”

Finance Director – PowWowNow