Among his most successful works are The Consolations of the Forest (2011), about a project to live alone in a Siberian cabin for six months and The Art of Patience [fr] (2019), about the quest for snow leopards in Tibet.

Tesson concluded the journey was plausible, though there are inconsistencies, such as Rawicz's claim of ten days without water in the Gobi.

Tesson wrote a book with photographer Thomas Goisque based on this experience, Sous l'étoile de la liberté.

In 2010, Tesson undertook a project to live alone for six months on the shores of Lake Baikal in a rustic cabin during winter, about 50 km north of Irkutsk.

[8] On the night of 21 to 22 August 2014, Tesson fell from the roof of a chalet in Chamonix which made him suffer four skull fractures and put him in a coma.

The accident made him decide to cross France on foot, which became the subject of his travel book On the Wandering Paths [fr] (2016).

[11][12] The Art of Patience [fr] came into being when the wildlife photographer Vincent Munier invited Tesson to Tibet to seek out snow leopards.

Guillaume Thouroude’s book contrasts "new explorers" like Tesson, who recycle adventurer clichés, with more innovative authors.

François Krug includes him in his book on the literary far-right, citing Tesson’s admiration for controversial intellectuals Jean Raspail and Dominique Venner.

[17][18][19][20] Recent Controversy: In January 2024, Tesson’s nomination as a patron of the Printemps des poètes festival sparked backlash.