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Stephen Venables (born 1954) is a British mountaineer and writer, who in 1988 became the first Briton to ascend to the peak of Mount Everest without bottled oxygen. Having to spend a night near the summit, he was eventually rescued by other climbers who took what has become an iconic Everest shot: Venables, glasses askew covered in ice, with a look of resigned terror on his face. Four years later he was again rescued after a fall on Panchu Chuli V by, amongst others, world-renowned climber Chris Bonnington, provoking debate in climbing circles over high altitude rescue ethics for repeat rescuees.

His other Himalayan first ascents include new routes in the Hindu Kush (1977), Kishtwar Shivling (1983), Solu Tower (1987), the Southwest Ridge of Kusum Kanguru (1991) and Panch Chuli V (1992). He has also made first ascents in Peru, Bolivia, Patagonia and South Georgia. He has appeared in several BBC television documentaries and the IMAX film 'Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure'. He is currently president of the South Georgia Association and the Alpine Club.

Stephen is also the father of the only known child in the UK to suffer from both autism and leukaemia. Stephen's son, Ollie (born June 1991) was diagnosed with autism aged two and leukaemia aged four. After several cancer-free years, he developed a brain tumour and died, aged twelve years old. His life was the subject of Venables's tenth book 'Ollie', published by Hutchinson in 2006.

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