Ray Mears Profile

Forget couch potato city dwellers and home comforts, Ray Mears is in his element when he explores some of the most inhospitable places.

Ray Mears

Beginnings

Ray Mears was born 7th February, 1964 and grew up on the North Downs, taking a great interest in the forest, tracking foxes and learning about the flora and fauna. Since, travelling around the world has enabled him to experience hunting and tracking as well as learning the traditions associated with the skills. He is also an expert in botanical science.

Ray Mears with binoculars

Television

Ray started out in television with Wild Tracks in 1994. This was followed in quick succession by Ray Mears’ World of Survival, Ray Mears’ Country Tracks and Ray Mears’ Extreme Survival. By this point Ray was the staple for adventure television.

His 2003 programme The Real Heroes of Telemark tells the story of a World War II operation carried out by a few men with amazing survival skills. The small squad was parachuted into Norway, on a glacier, with basic equipment. They had for mission to prevent the Nazis from building an atomic bomb. This book recounts the sixty-year-old true story of these special heroes.

In 2004, Ray made one of his most notable programmes, Ray Mears’ Bushcraft, followed by Ray Mears’ Wild Food in 2007. Ray furthered this by visiting specific habitats in Ray Mears Goes Walkabout and Ray Mears’ Northern Wilderness in 2008 and 2009.

Ray reprised ITV’s Survival wildlife series of programmes in 2010 with Survival with Ray Mears, making two series of Wild Britain with Ray Mears in 2010 and 2012.

Extreme Survival Clip

School of Wilderness Bushcraft

Ray started the School of Wilderness Bushcraft in 1983. He teaches survival skills here and Bushcraft. Instead of teaching specifics, Ray prefers to teach being practical and resourceful. It’s about being able to survive and seeing solutions rather than learning tips one by one. Ray believes in the ‘art of the possible’.