Henry John Richard Cookson, FRGS (born 16 September 1975)[1] is a British polar explorer and adventurer.

In 2005 he was persuaded to enter the Scott Dunn Polar Challenge as the third member of Team Hardware, alongside Rory Sweet and Rupert Longsdon.

Despite all being novice polar explorers, they defied the odds and won the gruelling 360 mile race to the magnetic North Pole, breaking the course record in the process and finishing four hours ahead of the nearest competitors, a team of a Royal Marine and two Army Commandos.

[3] Following the success of the Scott Dunn Polar Challenge, the trio decided to turn their sights on an expedition to the Antarctic Pole of Inaccessibility.

[4] Upon arrival, they discovered the most visible remains left behind from the previous Soviet expedition in 1958, and the only indication that they had reached the POI - a bust of Lenin, which had been fixed to the chimney of a Russian built hut.