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Photojournalist, filmmaker, entrepreneur and #1 New York Times best selling author with over 5 million books in print.

Rick Smolan’s Biography

Rick Smolan, CEO of Against All Odds Productions is a New York Times best-selling author with more than five million copies of his books in print. A former Time, Life, and National Geographic photographer, Smolan is best known as the co-creator of the "Day in the Life" book series. His global photography projects, (which feature the work of hundreds of the world's leading photojournalists and combine creative storytelling with state-of-the-art technology) are regularly featured on the covers of prestigious publications around the globe including Fortune, Time, and GEO.

Smolan has spoken at TED, The World Economic Forum in Davos, The Ford Foundation, The Wired Health Conference, TEDMED, Techonomy, DLD in Munich, IdeaCity in Canada, INK in India, The Strata Conference, etc.

More than a million people have watched Smolan’s “Natasha’s Story” talk on TED.com (www.NatashaStory.com).

His recent project “The Human Face of Big Data” captures how our planet is developing a nervous system. The “Human Face” iPad app won the 2013 WEBBY for best educational app. The companion TV documentary which will be broadcast in 25 countries in fall 2015 won the 2014 award for “Best Cinematography" at the Boston Film Festival.

In September 2014 the Oscar Winning Producers of "The Kings Speech" released TRACKS, a feature film based on Smolan's National Geographic story about Robyn Davidson’s 1700 mile nine month camel trek across the Australian outback. In the movie Robyn is portrayed by Mia Wasikowska ("Stoker", "The Kids are Alright", "Alice in Wonderland" with Johnny Depp). Smolan is played by Adam Driver, star of the hit TV series “GIRLS”.

Smolan's new book "INSIDE TRACKS: Alone Across the Outback" is a smart phone enabled coffee table book weaving together Davidson’s original journey, her story’s road to the silver screen and a delightful interactive component which enables readers to point their smart devices at Smolan’s original photographs and see that scene as it was brought to life in the film.

Fortune magazine describes Against All Odds as “One of the 25 Coolest Companies in America.