Bear Grylls's Biography

Adventurer, Bear Grylls grew up on the Isle of Wight where he started to climb with his father, the former Conservative MP, the late Sir Michael Grylls.

From 1994 to 1998 Bear Grylls served with the SAS. In spite of breaking three vertebrae in a parachuting accident in Africa, Bear Grylls became the youngest British climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Grylls wrote about his experience in Facing up.

Bear Grylls, along with his colleagues from Everest, achieved another first when they jet skied around the British Isles.

Many of his expeditions or adventures are for charity and include when Grylls rowed naked in a bathtub along the Thames; as well as when, in aid of the Prince's Trust, Grylls led the first group to cross unassisted the frozen North Atlantic Ocean in an open Rigid Inflatable Boat.

In 2003 Grylls's wife, Shara gave birth to a son, Jesse. The following year Bear Grylls' Facing the Frozen Ocean was published.

Bear Grylls also presented the Channel 4 series, 'Escape to the Legion'.

In June 2005 Grylls along with David Hempleman-Adams and Lieutenant Commander Alan Veal broke a world record by hosting a dinner party at a table suspended below a hot air balloon at 24,000ft.

A three-course meal was laid on for Bear Grylls and Alan Veal who abseiled from the balloon's basket to the table.

They saluted the Queen before skydiving to earth. Bear Grylls explained: "The aim was to celebrate 50 years of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award."

Bear Grylls is also the adventurer in Discovery Channel's Man vs. Wild.

In March 2007, Bear Grylls started presenting the Channel 4 series, Born Survivor: Bear Grylls, demonstrating how to survive extreme environments.

In July 2007, a controversy emerged about the filming of Man vs. Wild / Born Survivor.

Later, Bear Grylls told the BBC, "If people felt misled on how the first series was represented, I'm really sorry for that."

In December 2008, Bear Grylls broke his shoulder after a fall while on an expedition in Antarctica during a sponsored trip.

On January 15, 2009 Bear Grylls and his wife Shara had their third child Huckleberry Edward Jocelyne, a brother for Jesse and Marmaduke.

In May 2009, Bear Grylls was appointed the UK's Chief Scout.

In 2011, Bear Grylls went on an expedition in the rainforests of La Palma in the Channel 4 two-part series Bear's Wild Weekend with Jonathan Ross.

In June 2012, it was revealed that Bear Grylls would be part of the Olympic torch relay carrying the Olympic flame down a zip wire from the Tyne Bridge.

In January 2015, it was revealed that Bear Grylls would make his ITV debut on a celebrity survival show set in central America.

In February 2016, the show, Bear Grylls: Mission Survive had its second series.

In December 2016, ITV announced that they had commissioned a second series of Bear Grylls’ Survival School for CITV. 

In 2019, he wa awarded the OBE for services to young people, the media, and charity. By this time he had also been appointed Chief Scout.