Mark Agnew is a British adventurer notable for kayaking the Northwest Passage. He was awarded European Adventurer of the Year 2023. As Mark Agnew lay in his sleeping bag, he was woken by a deep guttural growl. A polar bear was trying to get into his tent. Now, he builds resilient teams that view change and uncertainty as an exciting challenge, with his signature keynote Find Your Polar Bear.

He made history with his three teammates by becoming the first team to kayak the entire Northwest Passage, a feat named one of the Top 10 Greatest Kayak Expeditions of the Century and that earned him European Adventurer of the Year.

When the news was broken on the BBC, his encounter with the bear went viral. He was immediately interviewed on ITV and featured in over 200 media outlets, like Sky News, The Times, Daily Mail and many more.

Battling shifting sea ice, unpredictable weather and the constant threat of polar bears, Mark developed his Find Your Polar Bear resilience framework, a practical model for thriving through change and uncertainty, turning obstacles into exciting challenges.