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Ian Wilson Dr Ian Muir Wilson (born 15th November 1943) is a British entrepreneur, writer, travel publisher, and founder and chairman of WEXAS Ltd.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Personal life 3 Career 4 Travel 5 Books and articles 6 later life 7 Interests 8 References 9 Links

Early life Wilson was born to Lieutenant Robert Adam Wilson (British Army Dental Corps) and Mary Mowat Muir in Edinburgh. He was educated, largely on scholarships, at Waverley School, Nottingham [1], Takapuna Primary School, New Zealand [2] (dux 1956), Auckland Grammar School, New Zealand [3] (dux 1961), Auckland University, New Zealand [4] (Senior Scholar 1965), and Brasenose College, Oxford [5]. Wilson has an MA with First Class Honours in French from Auckland University [4] (1965) and a doctorate from Oxford University [5] in French political philosophy (1969). He has a diploma in Social and physical anthropology from Auckland University[4] (1975). Other qualifications include a diploma in massage [6], a diploma in counselling [7] and a diploma in gym instruction [8]. Wilson was granted a coat of arms by the College of Arms [9] in 1995 (motto: Iam redit et virgo).

Personal life Married first (1974) to Alexandra Leal, a Canadian citizen and daughter of then Chanel chairman Jacques Leal. Wilson and his wife had two children, Mark Nicholas Leal Wilson born 11th September 1974 and Jacqueline Emma Muir Wilson born 7th November 1978. The marriage was dissolved in 1987. Wilson’s second marriage (2002) was to Sarah Ann Marsh. The marriage was dissolved in 2011. Wilson and his second wife had one son, Thomas Edward Mowat Wilson born 18th October 2005. Wilson has joint British and New Zealand nationality and is domiciled in New Zealand, the country to which his family moved when he was nine. There are family homes in London, Dorset and New Zealand. Career While at Oxford, Wilson taught French to London University external degree students at St Clare’s [10]. After Oxford University (1969) Wilson joined J Walter Thompson Company Ltd [11] as an account representative. While still in advertising, in 1970, on savings of £150, he founded the travel company WUNEXAS (World Universities Expeditionary Association, renamed WEXAS for World Expeditionary Association in 1972) with Alexandra Leal, later his wife. In May 1970 he left advertising to work at the association full time and remains the chairman to this day. WEXAS was incorporated [12] as a limited liability company in 1984 and rapidly became the leading UK travel club for serious travellers, and later a travel company catering also to a variety of companies as a corporate travel agency. WEXAS has many distinguished travellers and explorers among its honorary presidents, including Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Michael Palin and John Simpson. From its inception WEXAS gave part of its profits to charity. After supporting over 200 UK school and university research expeditions, directly and then through the Royal Geographical Society [13], WEXAS now raises money for two Third World causes (the building of a school for poor children in KwaZulu Natal and a rainforest conservation project in South America) through the WEXAS Travel Foundation [14], a registered charity dependent on donations and part of WEXAS profits. Travel Wilson has travelled to some 130 countries during his career, partly for business and partly in pursuit of his lifetime hobby surfing. Often he has been accompanied on his adventures by his two children, Mark and Jackie. Wilson has pioneered surfing in many parts of the world. In 1964- 1968 he competed in surf competitions in New Zealand, France and Morocco, before continuing to surf as a world traveller away from competitive surfing. Wilson continues to surf around the globe. Books and articles The Influence of Hobbes and Locke in the Shaping of the Concept of Sovereignty in Eighteenth Century France (Voltaire Foundation, Geneva, 1973) 500 Tips and Traps for the long-haul Traveller (later renamed Trouble-Free Travel: An Insider’s Guide) (WEXAS, London, several editions 1981 – 1989) under the nom de plume Richard Harrington Black Jenny (a novel) ( HarperCollins, London, 1993) and subsequently on the web under the title Shakespeare’s Dark Lady 500 Destinations to avoid and 500 to go to (WEXAS, London, 1995) 1000 Tips and Traps for the Worried Well (Osculum Press, London, 2008) The Little Dictionary of Big Words you should know (Fifth Floor Publishing, London, 2014) Essaouira: My Kind of Town, an article which appeared in The Daily Telegraph (London, 16 November 2004) about the town of Essaouira in Morocco. How to ease the Nightmare, an article about business travel which appeared in The Financial Times (London, 9th October 2006). Publishing through WEXAS Traveller magazine published as Expedition News (1970-1973), Expedition magazine (1973-1984), Traveller magazine (1984- present) The Traveller’s Handbook (first published as Trouble-free Travel: An Insider’s Guide) (12 UK editions and 3 US edition 1977 – 2011) – often described as ‘the traveller’s bible.’ The Traveller’s Medical Guide (3 editions) The Traveller’s Guide to the Internet Around the World in Eighty Ways Later life At Oxford Wilson competed in athletics (discus) against Cambridge University in 1966 in the Freshmen athletics team [15]. Wilson was a photographer on Isis, [16] the Oxford University magazine, 1968-1969. Photographs taken by Wilson of five daughters of the Great and the Good published in Isis in 1969 proved controversial and were taken up by the Charles Greville column in The Daily Mail [17] and later by Eamon Andrews on his BBC programme What the Papers Say [18]. In 1982 Wilson and his son Mark visited the Cocos Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean at a time of heightened tension between the USA and the USSR as the latter sought a base to counter the Indian Ocean presence of US forces on the island of Diego Garcia in the Chagos archipelago. This led to Wilson being interviewed on the John Dunn Drivetime programme on BBC Radio 2 [19] to talk about the experience. In 2004 Wilson featured in the Sunday Times column How I made It [20] which focused not on financial success, but on the way in which life could be fulfilling by turning personal interests into a business. The article was later reprinted in a book entitled My Big Idea [21]. Wilson organized a commercial diving expedition to the Chagos Islands (British Indian Ocean Territory) [22] in 2005. Highly controversial in light of the political sensitivity of such a visit (albeit with the tacit approval of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office), the expedition was nearly blocked from leaving the Seychelles by the Seychelles and Mauritian prime ministers and only obtained permission to sail for Chagos after the intervention of British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook. Wilson has worked as a volunteer outreach counsellor (Westminster Pastoral Foundation, 1994) [7], an art dealer working from home (1993-1994), a Young Enterprise Volunteer Business adviser (Bryanston School 1995) [23]. Wilson is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society [13] and a member of the Chelsea Arts Club [24].

Interests Surfing, skiing, sailing, SCUBA and free diving, writing, collecting early New Zealand maps and books, collecting modern travel books, collecting early English watercolours, parapsychology, clinical psychology, paediatric psychology, naturopathic medicine, nutrition, exercise.

References 1 Waverley School Nottingham (now closed) 2 Takapuna Primary School, Auckland, New Zealand 3 Auckland Grammar School, Auckland, New Zealand 4 Auckland University, Auckland, New Zealand 5 Oxford University 6 International Therapy Examination Council, London, 1981 7 Westminster Pastoral Foundation, London, 1994 8 YMCA Fitness Training, London, 2002 9 College of Arms, London 10 St Clare’s, Oxford 11 J Walter Thompson Company Ltd, London, September 1969 – May 1971 12 WEXAS Ltd, London 13 Royal Geographical Society, London 14 WEXAS Travel Foundation, London, UK charity registration No. 1130335 15 Oxford University Athletics Club 16 Isis magazine 17 Daily Mail, 1969 18 BBC Television, 1969 19 BBC Radio 2, 1982 20 Sunday Times, London, 28th November, 2004 21 Sunday Times Books (ed. Rachel Bridge), London, 2010 22 Chagos Conservation Trust Chagos News 24, August 2004 23 Young Enterprise, 1996 24 Chelsea Arts Club

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