Adam Knights is a former Parachute Regiment soldier, entrepreneur, and author who speaks and writes about leadership, resilience, and mental health shaped by real-world experience.
Built and sold a £40m healthcare business
Author of 5 books
Speaker on leadership & mental health
Adam Knights.
Writing about leadership, pressure, and the cost of responsibility.
Former Parachute Regiment soldier, entrepreneur, and author.
Exploring what happens when systems fail - and people don’t.
From service to consequence
Nine years in the Parachute Regiment taught Adam Knights a simple truth: plans rarely survive contact, and certainty is a luxury you almost never have. Tours in Belfast, Africa, and the Far East became a masterclass in operating under pressure - the kind no classroom or MBA can replicate.
In 1998, he left the military and entered the pharmaceutical industry with no connections, no pedigree, and a dyslexic C-student’s relationship with formal education. What he did have was resilience, an instinct for people, and a willingness to learn fast. He rose through the ranks quicker than anyone expected - largely, he’ll tell you, by surrounding himself with people far smarter than himself and having the sense to listen.
By 2009, he stopped building other people’s businesses and started his own. Applying special-forces thinking to commercial problems - move fast, adapt constantly, trust your team - he went on to build and sell NeoHealth Hub for nearly £40 million.
Behind the exits and achievements, Adam has been knocked flat more times than he would ever claim as part of his story. Depression that made getting out of bed feel like a daily summit attempt. Mental health battles that tested him in ways combat never did - because at least in a firefight, you can see the enemy.
Cancer arrived without warning, adding another layer to a life already shaped by uncertainty. He doesn’t talk about these experiences for sympathy. He talks about them because pretending they didn’t happen helps no one - and because someone reading this may be in the middle of their own fight right now.
He didn’t get through it heroically or neatly. He got through it stubbornly, one difficult day at a time, with help from people who refused to let him disappear.
That is where the writing begins.
What shapes the work
Why this work exists
Adam’s work isn’t about war stories or business success. It’s about what happens when people are asked to lead, decide, and carry responsibility without certainty - whether that’s in hostile territory, a boardroom, or their own head.
The books and talks are shaped by lived experience, not theory. They’re written for people who operate under pressure, who value clarity over slogans, and who understand that the most important battles are rarely the most visible.
Today
Adam lives in an English farmhouse in Buckinghamshire. He’s usually working on the next book, the next venture, or both.
He still can’t spell particularly well.
He’s made his peace with that too.
For press & speaking enquiries
Adam is available for interviews, podcasts, panels, and speaking engagements.
For press or booking enquiries, please get in touch.