He's braved Indonesia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, and found time to teach both Prince William and Harry, but Rory Stewart's next challenge is almost certain to be navigating the backbenches of the House of Commons.
On Sunday night, the former foreign office civil servant, writer, academic and tutor to royalty beat five other candidates to win selection to the safe Conservative seat of Penrith and the Border. He is now standing to become the MP for the constituency currently represented by David Maclean, who is suffering from multiple sclerosis and who is standing down on health grounds. Following the redrawing of boundaries the seat has a notional Tory majority of more than 10,000.
Stewart has served in the British army and in the foreign service, where he worked in Indonesia and the Balkans. He became the governor of a province of occupied Iraq during 2003 and 2004, about which he wrote his book, The Prince of the Marshes. Prior to that he wrote about walking across Afghanistan in the winter of 2001 to 2002 in the Places In Between, which became a New York Times best seller. The 36-year-old is a former Harvard professor and soldier, as well as being the executive chairman of the British charity, the Turquoise Mountain Foundation.
Stewart brings a knowledge of modern war zones to the ranks of new candidates which, according to analysis carried out by a communications consultancy, currently includes no new prospective MPs with military expertise.
However, the selection of such a high-profile candidate is not an unalloyed good for the Tory high command, with Stewart taking a different position on the war in Afghanistan. He has written before that he feels Afghanistan is a misguided conflict and nation building an ill-fated project.
Speaking at the Penrith Auction Mart on Sunday night, Stewart said: "Thank you for changing my life … I'm unbelievably happy. This has been a life-changing experience. I will be straight on to the estate agent in the morning. I'm very much looking forward to living in the constituency and getting to know everybody."
Speaking at the selection, about what he regarded to be the problems for the constituency, he said: "I believe in protecting agriculture, not because it's all there is in the constituency. Farmers have had a tough deal from Westminster. Rural areas have been badly neglected and I want to work to make sure everything from post offices to bus stops are maintained in this constituency."
Born in Hong Kong, Stewart was raised in the Scottish Highlands town of Crieff, where he still lives. In August 2008, Studio Canal and Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B, bought the rights to a biopic of his life, with the British actor Orlando Bloom already rumoured to be in line to play him.
He was educated at Eton, and Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied modern history and politics, philosophy and economics. During this time he spent a summer holiday tutoring both William and Harry.
In July, Stewart asked an interviewer for the Financial Times whether she thought he should become an MP, and whether he should also aim to become prime minister.