Oli Wilkes

Prior to starting rowing at university Oli was a competitive swimmer and raced against Adam Peaty as he was on his way to becoming world beating (they were both based in Derbyshire).

During that time, Oli beat Adam at freestyle but was nowhere near him at breaststroke which may or may not have led to Oli switching to rowing.

Oli studied a bachelor’s in aerospace engineering at the University of Liverpool, and a masters in sustainable energy systems at the University of Edinburgh.

Breaking into the senior squad, Oli raced in the men’s pair at World Cup II in 2021 and was selected as a non travelling reserve for the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He was selected in the men’s four at the start of the 2022 season, but his dreams were cut short as he caught Covid in Belgrade before the start of World Cup I and watched his crew mates win gold from his quarantine hotel room, spending the rest of the season back as a reserve. He fought his way back into the men’s four in the 2023 season maintaining the crews unbeaten run. He has much fonder memories of Belgrade in 2023 as he became World Champion and qualified the boat for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Oli loves being outdoors and hopes to do lots of mountain biking after rowing.