Erling Kagge

Norwegian explorer, publisher, author, lawyer, art collector, entrepreneur, and politician who in 1994 became the first person to complete the "Three Poles Challenge" on foot. Kagge has also sailed across the Atlantic twice, around Cape Horn, and to the Antarctic Peninsula.

In 1990, Erling Kagge and Børge Ousland became the first people ever to reach the North Pole unsupported. The expedition started from Ellesmere Island on 8 March 1990, and reached the North Pole 58 days later on 4 May 1990. They travelled approximately 800 kilometers on skis, pulling their supplies on sledges.

Kagge attended Cambridge University to study philosophy for three terms. In 1996, he founded the eponymous Oslo-based publishing house, Kagge Forlag. In 2000 Kagge Forlag acquired one of Norway's oldest publishing companies, J.M. Stenersens Forlag. Kagge and Stenersens publish approximately 100 new titles annually and is the country's biggest publisher of nonfiction.

Kagge has written eight books on exploration, philosophy, and art collecting, which have been translated into 39 languages. He has written for the Financial Times, The New York Times, and The Guardian.