Frank Gardner Keynote Speaker

Frank Gardner OBE is the UK’s first full-time Security Correspondent, reporting on issues of both domestic and international security, including everything from Afghanistan to piracy off the Somali coast to Arctic challenges.    He spent nine years as an investment banker in New York, London and Bahrain before switching to journalism and joining the BBC in 1995

A fluent Arabic speaker, he became the BBC’s first full-time Gulf correspondent in 1998, setting up an office in Dubai. In 2000 he became BBC Middle East correspondent in charge of the bureau in Cairo. After 9/11, he reported extensively on the global ˜War on Terror’ in Guantanamo Bay, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.

In 2004, he survived being shot six times at close range by Al-Qaeda terrorists in a Riyadh suburb in Saudi Arabia. He went on to write his best-selling memoir ‘Blood and Sand‘.   ‘Far Horizons‘ was published in 2009, a much praised account of his life as an adventurous traveller and explorer. His first novel, ‘Crisis‘ was a No.1 bestseller.   He has been awarded an OBE for services to journalism.

Frank has also written for the Economist, Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph and Time Out and has been published in The Best of Sunday Times Travel Writing. In 2018 he was awarded the University of Southern California’s Tommy Trojan Trophy for distinguished speaking.

As a career broadcaster and a witty and gifted communicator, Frank shares his passion for the Middle East, travel and adventure. He draws on a unique perspective and understanding of both domestic and international security. Frank’s own personal story of survival combined with his extensive knowledge of Middle Eastern history and politics make for a compelling event.

His talks cover a range of themes including ; Adventure, Adversity, International Affairs, Politics & Current Affairs, Fear & Risk, Security