The Team | Oli

25 year old Oli lives in Milton Keynes and is an avid writer. Failure to thrive resulted in a diagnosis of Cystic Fibrosis at 18 months old, and the daily regime of treatments ensued, allowing Oli to participate in school activities and his star quality in drama, writing and directing began to shine through.

At the age of 17, Oli wrote and directed a play which earned him work experience at the National Theatre, fuelling his enthusiasm even more, and he subsequently performed at the Edinburgh Fringe before returning to directing which by now was his clear passion. On leaving school, a small job at Milton Keynes theatre quickly grew to a position being created for him as Education Assistant, where Oli worked predominantly with the emerging Youth Theatre.

In September 2004 Oli joined the Royal Theatre, Northampton as Production Assistant, working there for a further 8 months before returning to Milton Keynes, managing and producing as Youth Theatre Assistant.

Oli has worked with the Cystic Fibrosis Trust for several years now, initially as a Patient Advocate and then progressing to be an ambassador, which has lead him to take on roles such as meeting with Government ministers, Secretaries of state, and being the consultant on the ITV drama Vital Signs staring Tamzin Outhwaite.

Due to the nature of Cystic Fibrosis Oli’s health steadily declined and he was listed for a life-saving double lung transplant in June 2005. After nearly 2 ½ years of waiting and hoping, Oli got his call at the end of November and is currently still recovering in hospital although doing extremely well. In spite of his poor health, Oli has continued to fight for the CF Trust which earned him the Nicky West Tribute award for outstanding contribution in 2006. Oli is also editor for CF Talk magazine, which is written by and goes out to people with CF Nationwide.