Stephen wrote the synopsis of his first book whilst staying with friends in Mumbai, on the way home from the Himalaya, in 1985. A year later the result, Painted Mountains, was published by Hodder & Stoughton and won the prestigious Boardman Tasker Prize for mountain literature.
Stephen has since written ten more books. Everest – Alone at the Summit and A Slender Thread were both runners up for the Boardman Tasker Prize. Himalaya Alpine Style won the Grand Award at Banff International Mountain Festival and Everest – Summit of Achievement won the King Albert Award.
This is what some of the critics had to say about A Slender Thread. ‘Powerful dramatic writing … one of the best mountaineering books to have been published for a very long while’ (Daily Telegraph). ‘Outstanding’ (Climber magazine). Venables writes with elegance, conjuring up vividly and honestly his companions [with] an acute awareness of the environment through which he travels’ (Observer).
In 2006 Stephen published two new books. Meetings with Mountains is a sumptuous illustrated collection of stories from around the world. The other book only touched briefly on the mountains, as background to the story of Stephen’s elder son, who became autistic at two and died at twelve from a brain tumour. When it came out in hardback Ollie made the Sunday Times bestseller list and promises to do even better in paperback. Now he has published his long-awaited autobiography, Higher than the Eagle Soars – A Path to Everest, telling the story of all his early adventures, finishing on the summit of Everest.
Stephen’s new book, First Ascent, featured recently in this Climber magazine feature by Ed Douglas. Click to download pdf of articleSept08 Climber pg.28-31
Full booklist
Painted Mountains Hodder & Stoughton 1986
ISBN-10:0340396083 ISBN-13:978-0898861365
Republished as American paperback: Lost Mountains Adrenaline 2001
ISBN-10:1560253738 ISBN-13:978-1560253730
Everest Kangshung Face Hodder & Stoughton 1989
ISBN-10:0340423668. ISBN-13:978-0330315593
Paperback Pan 1991
ISBN-10:0330315595 ISBN-13:978-0330315593
Republished as:
Everest Alone at the Summit Odyssey Books 1996
ISBN-10:0952937506. ISBN-13:978-0952937500
American edition Adrenaline 2000
ISBN-10:1560252898. ISBN-13:978-1560252894
Island at the Edge of the World Hodder & Stoughton 1991
ISBN-10:0340556005 ISBN-13:978-0340556009
Paperback Warner Books 1992
ISBN-10:0751500399. ISBN-13:978-0751500394
M for Mountains Piccolo 1993
ISBN-10:0330328999 ISBN-13:978-0330328999
Himalaya Alpine Style (joint author Andy Fanshawe) Diadem 1995
ISBN-10:0906371252 ISBN-13:978-0906371251
Second edition Batôn Wicks 1999
ISBN-10:1898573395 ISBN-13:978-1898573395
America edition Mountaineers 1996
ISBN-10:0898864569. ISBN-13:978-0898864564
Himalaya – Magic Lines (German) Bergverlag Rother 1995
ISBN-10:3763370420 ISBN-13:978-2700310740
Himalaya en Style Alpin (French) Arthaud 1996 ISBN-10:2700310748
Himalaya en Stile Alpino (Italian) Vallardi I.G 1996 ISBN-10: 8876962336
Himalaya Alpine Style (Japanese) 1996 ISBN-10:0906371252
A Slender Thread Hutchinson 2000
ISBN-10:0091801273 ISBN-13:978-0091801274
Paperback Arrow 2001
ISBN-10:0099279061 ISBN-13:978-0099279068
American edition Adrenaline 2000
ISBN-10:1560252987 ISBN-13:978-1560252986
Everest – To the Top Walker Books 2003
ISBN-13:978-0744586626 Papererback Walker Books 2004
ISBN-13:978-1844287253
Everest – Summit of Achievement Bloomsbury 2003
ISBN-10:0747562237 ISBN-13:978-0747562238
German edition:
Ev. – Die Geschichte Seiner Erkundung Frederking & Thaler 2003
ISBN-10:3894054654 ISBN-13:978-3894054656
SV006 – Everest – Summit of Achievement, Bloomsbury 2013
ISBN 978-1408841983 – Hardback
Ollie Hutchinson 2006
ISBN-10:0091800250 ISBN-13:978-0091800253Paperback Arrow 2007
ISBN-10:009947879X ISBN-13:978-0099478799
Meetings with Mountains Cassell Illustrated 2006
ISBN-10:1844034496 ISBN-13:978-1844034499
Voices from the Mountains Reader’s Digest 2006
ISBN-10:076210810X ISBN-13:978-0762108107
German edition:
Bis ans Limit Bruckmann Verlag GmbH 2007
ISBN-10: 3765448192 ISBN-13: 978-3765448195
Spanish edition:
Encuentros con las Montañas Blume 2007
ISBN-10: 848076726X ISBN-13: 978-8480767272
Higher than the Eagle Soars Hutchinson 2007
ISBN-10:0091795613 ISBN-13: 978-0091795610
PaperbackArrow 2008
ISBN-10: 0099505444 ISBN-13: 978-0099505440
First Ascent Cassell Illustrated 2008
ISBN-10: 1844035964 ISBN-13: 978-1844035960
American edition Firefly Books 2008
ISBN-10: 1554074037 ISBN-13: 978-1554074037
German edition:
Legendäre Erstbesteigungen: Die Eroberung der spektakulärsten Gipfel
Bruckmann Verlag GmbH 2009
ISBN-10: 3765453609 ISBN-13: 978-3765453601
Dutch edition:
De Top Bereikt: pioneers in de bergen
Atrium
ISBN-13: 978-9059472655