Bacteria in the genus Arthrobacter have been found in extreme environments, e.g. glaciers, brine and mural paintings. Here, we report the discovery of a novel pink-coloured bacterium, strain QL17(T), capable of producing an extracellular water-soluble blue pigment. The bacterium was isolated from the soil of the East Rongbuk Glacier of Mt. Everest, China. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that strain QL17(T) was most closely related to the species Arthrobacter bussei KR32 (T). However, compared to A.bussei KR32(T) and the next closest relatives, the new species demonstrates considerable phylogenetic distance at the whole-genome level, with an average nucleotide identity of <85 % and inferred DNA-DNA hybridization of <30 %. Polyphasic taxonomy results support our conclusion that strain QL17(T) represents a novel species of the genus Arthrobacter. Strain QL17(T) had the highest tolerance to hydrogen peroxide at 400 mM. Whole-genome sequencing of strain QL17(T) revealed the presence of numer-ous cold-adaptation, antioxidation and UV resistance-associated genes, which are related to adaptation to the extreme envi-ronment of Mt. Everest. Results of this study characterized a novel psychrotolerant Arthrobacter species, for which the name Arthrobacter antioxidans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is QL17(T) (GDMCC 1.2948(T)=JCM 35246(T)).