Ollie Cook

Rio 2016 Olympiad: 2013 – 2016

Cook and Callum McBrierty started the 2016 season in the men’s pair, finishing ninth at the Varese World Cup. They then teamed up with cox Henry Fieldman in the coxed pair for the World Cup in Poznan, where they beat Turkey to gold in a two-boat race. The trio’s fine form continued at the World Rowing Championships in Rotterdam where, after winning their heat and semi-final, they stormed away from the field in the final to win gold by clear water.

Cook was selected as men’s sweep spare for the 2015 World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette, having finished eighth with Stewart Innes as a second GB men’s pair at the World Cup in Lucerne.

He made his first World Cup appearance during the 2013 season and it was a successful one as he won gold with the men’s eight at Eton Dorney. Cook was then selected in a second GB eight in Lucerne, finishing eighth, before making his world championships debut in the men’s pair with James Foad in Chungju, placing seventh overall.

After winning a bronze medal in the eight at the 2014 European Championships in Belgrade, he formed a second GB men’s pair with Phil Congdon at the World Cup in Lucerne, finishing 11th. He was also selected as sweep spare for the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam.

London 2012 Olympiad: 2009 – 2012

Cook – whose GB debut came in the men’s four at the 2008 Coupe de la Jeunesse – raced at the 2012 World U23 Championships in Trakai, finishing just outside the medals in the men’s eight.

He made his senior debut in the same boat at the European Championships later that season, finishing fifth in Varese.

After finishing at school, Ollie took a gap year to teach in South Africa.  He is a trustee of the Harry Birrell Scholarship Trust, a charity that raises money to pay for disadvantaged children in Grahamstown, South Africa to go to school. In 2011 Ollie was part of the Row Zambezi Expedition. It was the first time anyone had rowed the 1,000km of the Upper Zambezi, starting from near its source on the Angolan/Zambian border and rowing to the Victoria Falls in Zambia.  The expedition raised over £25,000 for Village Water.

While studying international relations and history at the London School of Economics, Ollie founded the LSE Ambassadors for Sport programme which aims to support and fund students at LSE who compete – or aspire to – at an international level in their sport.   He was also entered into the LSE Mr University competition: “Lacking any identifiable talent, I dressed up as a woman and did the Call On Me dance routine – I somehow won.”

After the Rio Olympiad Ollie undertook a masters in Global History at the University of Oxford where he won an academic distinction alongside studying Arabic and training for the Boat Race.  His ideal job is a travel writer and, after the 2013 World Rowing Championships in Chungju, he travelled to North Korea. He describes it as “the most astonishing and surreal place I have been to but they were some of the most welcoming and interesting people I have ever met. I even saw someone in a single scull training on the Taedong River through Pyongyang!”

Muhammad Ali, Patrick Leigh Fermor and David Attenborough are his dream dinner companions.