Born in Wimbledon around the time the tournament was being played, my parents were convinced that I was going to be the Egyptian Boris Becker. Sadly, I had a terrible backhand and was never much of a tennis player! By age 11, I had developed a nasty chest Asthma, waking up in the middle of the night breathless.

and youngest Arab to climb the highest mountain on every continent, also knows as the Seven Summits. Most folk do i the other way around but I began my quest in May 2007 with summitting Mount Everest. So far I have completed 5 of the 7 and am heading to Antarctica in a number of days to attempt the highest mountain there. It has been an uphill battle to date to train and gather all the resources necessary to make this climb happen. I'm glad that it's finally coming together!

To date, Omar has given over 70 lectures and presentations to companies, schools, universities and NGOs including HSBC, GSK, Novartis, Coca Cola, Banque Misr, various Rotary Clubs, London Business School and the Great Alexandria Library. Omar was also chosen to be a speak at TEDxCairo and TEDxAbuDhabiU and is London Business Forum Middle East's first professional speaker.

To me, Everest was never just a mountain but a life ambition that was achieved through years of hard work and perseverance. We all have our own Everest to climb and we need to understand that this involves as much dreaming and gazing into the night’s sky as knowing that the road will almost always be long and hard.

It is difficult to obtain copies of all press and media coverage but this is the most complete list available. I am grateful to the authors and contributors of all this content because each piece has played a direct and major role in allowing me to share my story and experiences to a greater number of people.