Rasmus Ankersen

Rasmus Ankersen is a Danish author, speaker and football executive who advises organisations on performance, talent development and organisational culture using insights drawn from elite sport and leadership research.

  • Co-Founder and CEO of Sport Republic, the investment firm that owns a controlling stake in Southampton FC.
  • Former Co-Director of Football at Brentford FC, overseeing football operations during the period leading to the club’s promotion to the Premier League.
  • Author of books including The Gold Mine Effect and Hunger in Paradise, examining talent development and sustaining success.
  • Conducted field research in high-performance sporting environments including Brazilian football and East African distance running.
  • Director of the documentary The Hockey Miracle in the Middle of No Where, about a Danish town that produced multiple NHL players.
  • Former Danish football player who moved into coaching and football administration after his playing career ended through injury.

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Key speaking topics

  • High performance and talent development
  • Sustaining success in organisations
  • Organisational culture and performance environments
  • Leadership and decision-making
  • Data-informed performance and recruitment in sport
  • Talent hotbeds and performance ecosystems
  • Avoiding complacency after success

Ideal for

  • Senior leadership teams and executives
  • Organisations focused on performance culture and talent development
  • Sports organisations and performance teams
  • Strategy, HR and organisational development leaders

Audience outcomes

  • Insight into how high-performance cultures are developed and sustained
  • Practical lessons from elite sport applied to organisational leadership
  • Understanding of how environments shape talent and performance
  • Frameworks for avoiding complacency after periods of success
  • Perspectives on the role of data and decision-making in performance environments

Why organisations work with Rasmus Ankersen

  • Combines experience in elite sport leadership with research into performance environments.
  • Provides cross-industry insight by translating lessons from high-performance sport into organisational contexts.
  • Offers practical perspectives on talent development, culture and sustaining success.
  • Draws on leadership experience within professional football and investment in global sports organisations.

Biography

Rasmus Ankersen is widely recognised for his work exploring how high-performance cultures are built, sustained, and replicated. Drawing on deep experience in elite sport and leadership environments, he helps organisations understand how talent develops, how performance cultures emerge, and how successful organisations avoid complacency.

He is Co-Founder and CEO of Sport Republic, the investment firm that owns a controlling stake in Southampton FC. He previously served as Co-Director of Football at Brentford FC, overseeing football operations during the period that culminated in the club’s promotion to the Premier League after more than seventy years outside the top tier.

Alongside his executive leadership in professional football, Rasmus is an author whose work examines the systems and environments that produce exceptional performance. His books include The Gold Mine Effect, which investigates “talent hotbeds” that consistently produce world-class performers, and Hunger in Paradise, which explores how successful organisations can maintain momentum and avoid complacency.

His research has taken him inside some of the world’s most effective performance environments. Through extensive fieldwork, he has studied Brazilian football development systems, East African distance running cultures and other high-performing sporting communities, analysing how culture, environment and decision-making shape elite performance.

Rasmus has also directed the documentary The Hockey Miracle in the Middle of No Where, which explores how the Danish town of Herning produced five NHL players within a nine-year period. The project reflects his broader interest in understanding why certain environments repeatedly generate exceptional talent.

Earlier in his career, he played football in Denmark before injury ended his playing ambitions. He subsequently gained UEFA coaching qualifications and moved into coaching and football administration, experiences that continue to inform his work on leadership, talent development and performance cultures.

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Testimonials

Rasmus is a truly fascinating man with a real insight into high performance both for individuals and teams. Rasmus is not just about theory. His lessons are rooted in real hard field research.
Sir Clive Woodward
Rugby World Cup winning coach
Our sales force gave Rasmus the best feedback that they’ve ever given a speaker before. He really nailed it
SAP
Without doubt one of the best keynotes we have ever had in the 12 years the conference has been running.
Peter Elliott
Director of Operations, English Institute of Sport
Rasmus delivered an excellent speech about leadership and high performance. It was very insightful, and the feedback has served to confirm the success of our event. Much of this has to be attributed to Rasmus’ invaluable contribution
Boris FJ Collardi
CEO, Julius Bär
Rasmus digs deep with insight and experience capturing knowledge that is easily shared and hopefully applied, foolish if it’s not!
Ben Roberts
Global Talent Director, Saatchi & Saatchi
From Rasmus you don’t just get theories, you get concrete tools working in the real world. He is the ultimate coach.
Casper Stylsvig
Global Sponsorship Director, Manchester United
Rasmus Ankersen truly knows how to evoke the innovation spirit in people.
Susanne Kapfer
SAP Global Corporate Affairs EMEA North
Time with Rasmus is time well spent if you’re serious about challenging assumptions, facing taboos and having a different dialogue.
Caroline Kitcher
HR Director, TUI UK & Ireland TUI
Rasmus has consistently been rated as one of the best speakers to take the stage at Google events. Importantly, he was able to draw on wide range of experiences and stories that resonated with a particularly diverse audience, which is often one of the most challenging aspects when searching for inspirational key note speakers.
Graeme Standing
Google UK
Rasmus exceeded expectations receiving the best speaker evaluations seen in Management Events’ six years history. In the last two evaluations Rasmus received the highest score possible – 5 points from every single delegate.
Peter Rosenkilde
Country Manager, Management Events
Rasmus is not just an exciting and compelling speaker. He also created real impact with his speech for our senior leaders
Peter Giørtz-Carlsen
Executive Vice President, Arla Foods
Rasmus delivered the best presentation ever in a partner and directors meeting
Håvard S. Abrahamsen
CEO / Territory Senior Partner, PWC
Rasmus was a huge hit on the day. Overall his keynote had a massively positive impact.
Claire Bailey
What If Innovation
Regardless of where you are in your business cycle the timing of his lecture is always right, the findings of his studies are always relevant and the way it will change your view on how to act to safe guard your businesses is very simple and mindblowing! Listen to him before it is to late!
Stefan Lorentzson
Senior Vice President, Communications, Volvo Group Trucks Operations
An excellent speaker for our leadership conference, both for people who loved football and those who have no interest in it. There were lots of memorable stories and people left enthused by the ideas he shares
Exponent