Colonel John Nicholas Blashford-Snell CBE (born 22 October 1936) is a former British Army officer, explorer and author.

[1] John Nicholas Blashford-Snell was born on 22 October 1936[2] in Hereford, England, the son of Alderman the Reverend Leland John Blashford-Snell (1903–1978), MBE, Prebendary of Hereford Cathedral, and formerly of the Royal Army Chaplains' Department,[3][4] and Gwendoline Ives Sadler.

[15] Amongst his expeditions were the first descent of the Blue Nile at the behest of Haile Selassie, during which he invented white-water rafting 'by accident' (in 1968); crossing of the Darién Gap (1971 to 1972) and overseeing the first north–south vehicular journey from Alaska to Cape Horn; and a complete navigation of the Congo River (in 1974 to 1975).

[7] He was awarded the Segrave Trophy in 1974[16][17] and the Livingstone Medal by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in recognition of his leadership of the expeditions.

[23] In 2010 he was made an Honorary Fellow of Liverpool John Moores University[24] His publications include an autobiography, Something Lost Behind the Ranges (1994).