- Waris was working at a London MacDonald's when she was discovered by a photographer.
- Her name means desert flower.
- She appeared in the 1987 & 1997 Pirelli Calendar.
- She was a Bond girl side by side with Timothy Dalton in 'The Living Daylights'.
- She is a cousin of fellow Somali supermodel Iman.
- She has written three books: 'Desert flower' about her childhood (including genital mutilation), her escape to England and life as a model and 'Desert Dawn' about the return to her birthland Somalia and 'Desert children'. Waris is a UN ambassador for the abolition of female genital mutilation.
- Her website can be found at http://www.waris-dirie-foundation.com/