Tim Smit was born in Holland on 25 September 1954. He read Archaeology and Anthropology at Durham University. Tim worked for ten years in the music industry as a composer/producer in both rock music and opera. In 1987 he moved to Cornwall where he and John Nelson ‘discovered’ and then restored the Lost Gardens of Heligan. Tim remains a Director of the gardens to the present day.

Tim is Chief Executive and co-founder of the Eden Project near St Austell in Cornwall. Eden began as a dream in 1995 and opened its doors to the public in 2000. Since then, more than six million people have come to see what was once a sterile pit turned into a cradle of life containing world-class horticulture and startling architecture symbolic of human endeavour. Eden is proud of its success in changing people’s perception of the potential for, and the application of science, by communicating and interpreting scientific concepts through the use of art, drama and storytelling as well as living up to its mission to take a pivotal role in local regeneration. It demonstrates once and for all that sustainability is not about sandals and nut cutlets, it is about good business practice and the citizenship values of the future.