After discovering man's early ancestors and battling gun-toting poachers, Richard Leakey now faces his toughest job yet - trying to wipe out corruption in Kenyan public life.
Appointed a month and a half ago as the first white head of independent Kenya's civil service, Mr Leakey knows it will not be easy. A generation of officials have looted the public coffers to line their own pockets. The result has been economic crisis in a country once hailed as one of Africa's brightest hopes.
"It is an enormously awesome task to take on and so much has to be done. But I am not daunted," he said, sitting in a plush new Nairobi office.
The scale of corruption ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous. The country's biggest financial scandal involves a firm allegedly granted $100 million of government cash to promote the export of gold and diamonds. Kenya produces neither.
But already Mr Leakey, a third generation Kenyan, has instituted big changes in cutting the bloated government. The number of ministries has been cut from 27 to 15, and he has also sacked the ailing head of the Kenya Tourism Board, putting Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Kenya's founding father, Jomo Kenyatta, into the post.
Kenyans of all backgrounds welcomed his appointment, but the choice was a shock as he and President Daniel arap Moi have a long history of antagonism. Mr Leakey helped to found the Safina opposition political party, and Mr Moi, who has ruled Kenya since 1979, once accused him of being a traitor in league with the Klu Klux Klan.
Many observers believe Mr Moi just wants to woo back foreign aid donors. Also, by bringing Mr Leakey into government, he silences one of his most vocal opponents.
Critics point out that, although the number of ministries has been almost halved, not a single minister was dismissed. Instead, merged departments have more than one head, with ministers retaining former portfolios and cabinet seats. In effect, Mr Moi's complex system of political patronage has survived intact.
But Mr Leaky is not deterred. Ending Kenyan corruption is not going to happen overnight. He says that all that is important to him is being given a chance to start sorting out the mess and bring back confidence to ordinary citizens and foreign investors alike.
However, many Kenyans fear he may not last long enough to make a real difference. Kenya has a history of strange political deaths and by tackling powerful vested interests "I will come up against people who would prefer it if I were to disappear one way or the other. One should be careful, but I am not a fearful man. I sleep very well at night," he said.
Mr Leakey, son of the palaeontologists Louis and Mary Leakey, is no stranger to danger. During long fossil digs around Lake Turkana his team faced wild animals and bandits. But he persevered and made finds that changed the way scientists think about early human history, firmly marking Africa as the cradle of mankind.
Later, leading the Kenya Wildlife Service, he armed his men with modern weapons to fight poaching. His comment of "the only good poacher is a dead poacher" angered some who felt the lives of animals were being put above those of humans, but he did win the anti-poaching war.
On a personal level too, he has won through against hardship. He would have died of kidney failure in 1979 had not his brother, Philip, donated one of his healthy organs. Then he suffered a horrific plane crash that cost him both legs, though these days he moves around nimbly on artificial limbs.