Available to book
Katherine Grainger
Baroness Katherine Grainger DBE is Britain's most decorated female Olympian and the only woman to medal at five consecutive Games. Now Chair of the British Olympic Association and a crossbench peer, she shows teams what resilience, motivation and real teamwork look like when the margins come down to fractions of a second.
Baroness Katherine Grainger DBE is Chair of the British Olympic Association, a crossbench peer, and Britain's most decorated female Olympian — the only female athlete in any sport to win a medal at five consecutive Olympic Games. Katherine pairs that record with a PhD in law, and it's the combination of elite sport and academic rigour that makes her such a draw for teams trying to raise their own standard.
Born in Glasgow, she read law at the University of Edinburgh, where she started rowing in 1993, then added a Masters from the University of Glasgow and a PhD from King's College London. Her Olympic run took in silver at Sydney (2000), Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008), gold with Anna Watkins in the double sculls at London 2012, and a final silver at Rio 2016 — alongside eight World Championship medals, six of them gold.
Since retiring she's led British sport from the boardroom, serving two terms as Chair of UK Sport before taking up the chairmanship of the BOA, where she's the first woman in the role since its founding in 1905. She was made a life peer in 2026 and sits as a non-aligned crossbencher. Katherine is also Chancellor of the University of Glasgow, Honorary President of Scottish Rowing, and a patron of Netball Scotland, Winning Scotland and the National Coastwatch Institution.
Her PepTalks on teamwork, motivation and communication draw on more than two decades inside elite sport and a decade spent running it — what actually makes a crew faster, and what keeps people going when it isn't working.
Topics, sessions and talks
Learn easy tips and tools to boost your optimism and build a positive mindset, pretty much regardless of the challenges of your environment. Takeaways: Practices to grow your optimism and combat the natural negativity bias of our brain How to shift towards opportunities rather than risks and dangers Mindfulness techniques to break the cycle of negative thinking How to slow down the inner critic Managing the nervous system to shift out of negative emotions Boosting your confidence by letting go of an unrealistic need to control
There aren't many people who've medalled at five straight Olympics and then gone on to run British sport — Katherine has done both, and she's as comfortable in a boardroom as a boat club. Book her when you want a session on resilience and teamwork backed by two decades of evidence rather than a highlight reel.
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frequently asked questions
Something we've not covered here?
To book Katherine Grainger, email dame.katherine.grainger.dbe@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm Baroness Katherine's availability and speaking fee. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and about your audience.
No. PepTalk adds no booking fee, so you pay the speaker's fee and nothing beyond it. The service, from shortlist through to contracts and event-day logistics, is included. For repeat or multi-event bookings, PepTalk can agree preferential rates with your procurement team.
Share your event date, audience, format, objectives and budget, and PepTalk sends a hand-picked shortlist within 24 hours. Each suggestion comes with a profile, a fee and a recommendation on the strongest fit. Once you choose, PepTalk handles contracts, travel and logistics through to event day.
The typical fee range is the speaker's standard in-person fee in their home market, shown in their local currency. It moves with format, location, date and session length: virtual sessions and shorter slots usually cost less, while international travel and peak dates cost more. Send your brief to PepTalk and the team will confirm the exact fee in your currency.
Not all of them, and it makes no difference to your booking. PepTalk's network of 15,000+ speakers covers talent the team works with directly alongside speakers represented by agents and agencies worldwide. PepTalk approaches the speaker, negotiates the fee and handles contracting either way.
Three to six months ahead is comfortable for most events, and 12 months is better for large conferences, peak-season dates or one specific in-demand speaker. Shorter timelines are workable, and PepTalk regularly fills last-minute and replacement bookings within days. Availability is the constraint, so get in touch as soon as you have a date.
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