Vanessa O'Brien

Vanessa O'Brien

Vanessa O'Brien at Aiguille du Midi
Personal information
Main discipline	Mountaineer, Explorer, Speaker
Other disciplines	Board Member - American Pakistan Foundation, Honorary Ambassador - U.S. Nepal Climbers Association Inc., Advisory Board Member - Thomson Safaris
Born	December 2, 1964 Grosse Pointe, MI, USA

Vanessa Audi Rhys O'Brien, is a British-American mountain climber, explorer, public speaker and former business executive. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Member of The Explorers Club.

She has climbed the highest peak on every continent and has a Guinness World Record for doing so in 295 days, setting a record for the fastest time a woman first achieved this goal. Vanessa has also skied the last 60 nautical miles or 111 km to the South Pole and North Pole completing the Explorers Grand Slam in 11 months, becoming the first woman to do so in under a calendar year and the 8th woman in the world to accomplish this. Vanessa has also successfully completed the Boston Marathon running 26.2 miles; helping the American Red Cross raise over $512,000 for charity.

Vanessa Audi Rhys O'Brien was born on December 2, 1964 and grew up in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. After graduating from Grosse Pointe South High School, Vanessa attended New York University where received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics.

After receiving her BA from New York University, Vanessa joined the Financial Management Program at GE Capital. After graduating from the FMP program and winning the Pinnacle Award for outstanding performance, GE Capital sponsored Vanessa for an Executive MBA in Finance at the Stern School of Business, New York University. After GE Capital, Vanessa contributed to Capital One before moving overseas to hold various London-based positions as the Director of Finance and Business Development for Morgan Stanley, Barclays Bank, and the Bank of America.