Mark Sisson

Mark Sisson is a former elite endurance athlete turned health revolutionary who transformed himself from a broken-down marathoner into the godfather of the primal/paleo movement — and built a $200 million food empire along the way. A 4th-place finisher at the 1982 Ironman World Championship and qualifier for the 1980 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, Sisson's athletic career nearly destroyed his body through what he later coined 'chronic cardio.'

His reinvention began when he abandoned conventional fitness wisdom, studied evolutionary biology, and developed the Primal Blueprint — a lifestyle framework based on how our ancestors actually lived. His blog Mark's Daily Apple attracted 2 million monthly readers and sparked a movement that challenged everything mainstream nutrition taught about diet and exercise.

In 2015, Sisson co-founded Primal Kitchen with a single product: avocado oil mayonnaise at $10 a jar. The company grew from $1.5 million in year one to $50 million by year three, and Kraft Heinz acquired it in 2019 for approximately $200 million. Remarkably, Sisson and his co-founder owned 95% of the company at the time of sale — they'd bootstrapped the entire operation.

At 72, Sisson looks like he's in his 40s, walks 6-7 miles daily in his latest venture — Peluva barefoot shoes, co-founded with his son Kyle — and lives by his motto: 'Live long, drop dead.' His newest book 'Born to Walk' declares the end of the running boom and champions walking as humanity's ideal exercise.

Born July 20, 1953, in Maine, Sisson attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Williams College, where he studied biology with a pre-med emphasis in evolutionary biology. He was a record-setting runner for the Portland Track Club before going professional, training over 100 miles per week as a marathoner and competing at the highest levels of triathlon during the sport's infancy.