From Lake District climb to global expeditions: Oli France on motivation, leadership and resilience

Oli France is a celebrated adventurer, expedition leader, and Motivation & Inspiration speaker, represented by Champions Speakers Agency. 

His extraordinary journey has taken him through deserts, jungles, mountains, and war-torn regions in over 75 countries, including leading freelance expeditions through the militia-ravaged jungles of the Congo and into the heart of Aleppo, Syria. 

Notable feats include an 8,000-mile solo winter trek across Asia’s mountain spine and a 405-mile expedition over the frozen expanse of Lake Baikal. 

His experiences navigating spies, avalanches, earthquakes, and arrest - all while maintaining an impeccable safety record - illuminate the power of resilience, leadership under pressure, and team cohesion. 

In this exclusive interview with The Champions Speakers Agency, Oli takes us through the moment that sparked his journey, what it takes to lead in extreme environments, and how to practice self-care amid chaos.

Q: What or who first inspired your passion for adventuring?

Oli France: “For me, it was really something quite simple. It was a simple climbing weekend at the age of 18. 

“We were taken up to the Lake District with an outbound instructor, and I went rock climbing for the very first time. It was my first experience of the outdoors and I was instantly gripped.

“From that experience, I decided to sign up for an outdoor leadership course - a three-year bachelor’s course - and then led on to this whole career of adventure. 

“The thing I do remind myself very often of when I’m now leading teams is that the leader probably had no idea of the catalyst that he set in motion on that day. The simple rock climbing trip in the Lake District; it really was that moment that quite literally changed my life.

“I must remind myself to reach out to that leader and say a big thank you, but it is a reminder for me of the power of these experiences for your teams.”

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Q: Which leadership skills do you need to be an adventurer?

Oli France: “The big thing I talk about with leadership in adventure is understanding motivations. 

“I do speak to a lot of leaders who tell me they only want their team to be fully motivated and focused on the specific goals that they have in the workplace.

“One of the things I always try to understand when I’ve got a team and we’re about to set off on a journey for the first time is what motivates them, quite specifically. If you do delve into individual motivations, I find that you can get so much more out of your team.

“Some people may want to learn to navigate. Others may want to pick up some language skills. Others may want to understand the decision-making process that I’m going through. 

“By factoring in all of the individual motivations of your team, I just find that you have a much greater chance of pulling them together, getting them on task, and getting people fired up for big, challenging adventures.”

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Q: While on an expedition, how do you practice positive mental health and well-being?

Oli France: “That is such an important question, especially in the modern era. I think for me, when you’re leading expeditions in remote and hostile places with a team of maybe 10 or 12 people, there are always a million things going through your mind.

“How is this person feeling today? Are there any injury concerns? What time do we need to meet the following guide? What time do we need to get up in the morning? There are a million considerations all at once, and it can be easy to be overwhelmed.

“I think it’s really important as a leader to be able to take brief moments - even if it’s only five to ten minutes - to read a book, do some exercise, or have a cold shower (that’s one of my 2021 obsessions), just to get that detox, to get that refreshed mind ready to go again.

Taking time out, taking a bit of a moment to yourself to reframe, to recollect, think about what your priorities are, and go again.”

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Q: Can you describe an experience while adventuring where your life was at risk and how you overcame the danger?

Oli France: “There have been many, many hairy moments in my life and career. I’ve been arrested in Uzbekistan for five days, I’ve been held at gunpoint, and I’ve been stuck in a militia-run town. Some of these are instances that you can try and factor for and plan around.

“One circumstance which completely caught me off guard was in Indonesia. This was just a holiday, actually, but we were caught in a 6.9 magnitude earthquake late at night, sat at a restaurant on the beachfront. 

“All of a sudden, this enormous earthquake erupts. It was a very frightening moment because there we were on the beach, the entire building was shaking, everybody rushed outside, and locals were screaming from across the villages.

“As soon as the tremors stopped, it was a case of zoning in on what’s most important. This is a principle that I carry forward in lots of different circumstances; what is priority number one right in that moment?

“For us, it was knowing there was potentially a tsunami risk. We started to see people moving up the hillside, so it was a case of grabbing our things as quickly as possible. I ended up rallying the other hotel guests and leading them up the hillside.

“Then it was waiting it out. We needed to get some reliable news sources, so everybody was on their phones trying to get a signal. 

“We were struggling for signal, but we used a local phone and managed to get reliable news sources. Then it was taking it step by step, at each point asking myself what is priority number one.

“Again, that is something I come back to even in daily life - sitting down at the computer in the morning and thinking, 'What’s priority number one?’ No, it’s probably not checking my LinkedIn or Instagram page, as tempting as it is, but focusing on those priority number ones at every turn is often what can get you through.”

This exclusive interview with Oli France was conducted by Chris Tompkins of The Motivational Speakers Agency.

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