British naturalist and African explorer from Meanwoodside near Leeds, who trained at Christ Church, Oxford University but left through ill-health and failed to graduate. He made zoological collections during an expedition to Guatemala and California (1871-1872) and was elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He organised an expedition to Africa with his brother W.E. Oates, and was one of the first Europeans to reach Victoria Falls on 31 December 1874. He made extensive ornithological, herpetological and entomological collections in addtion to botanical specimens and anthropological material, but died during the return journey on 5 February 1875. His journals and letters were later edited and published by his younger brother Charles George Oates under the title Matabele Land and the Victoria Falls (1881). In the second addition, R.A. Rolfe revised the botany and added a number of species. A number of species were named after him including Anthericum oatesii Baker (= Trachyandra saltii (Baker) Oberm.), Gladiolus oatesii Rolfe and Hebenstretia oatesii Rolfe.

Frank Oates was the uncle of polar explorer Lawrence 'Titus' Oates, famous for his self-sacrifice (1912) during the Antarctic expedition of Capt. Robert Scott. Frank Oates is commemorated by a permanent exhibit at the Oates Museum at Selborne in Hampshire.