Ollie Rastall Speaker | Enterprise & Sports & Lifestyle & Careers & Well-being

Ollie Rastall

Endurance athlete and business owner brings experience of entrepreneurship and extreme endeavours

Ollie looks to connect with his teenage audiences on a unique level, shedding any notion of what conventional may look like. A difficult childhood, mediocre academic ability, personal challenges and a complete lack of direction in his teenage years, provides powerful context for his full and colourful life. Tales of opportunity, risk, adversity, and success (his definition) offer a window into the life of someone who has always created his own path, requiring a never give up mind-set. Ollie has worked and lived abroad, trying his hand in many careers, experiencing and learning from failures.

Ollie’s examples of his business growth journey can captivate the budding entrepreneurs in the audience whilst his global endurance endeavours that push his body and mind to the limit in hostile environments grabs the attention of the future intrepid explorer.

Recognising what can be a sensitive and confusing stage in life for some members of his teenage audiences, Ollie is candid with his own turmoil. Resilience has been a key trait throughout his business and sporting lives.

From minus 40 degrees in the Arctic Circle on a self-supported ski expedition to 40-degree heat in the Nevada desert on a bike whilst crossing the USA non-stop, cold calling from his bedroom to running a £6m multi award winning business, Ollie has a wealth of lived experiences that students from all walks of life can aspire to.

Ollie is also passionate about the importance of self-development, honing in on effective communication skills, balancing work and life, as well as taking care of one's mental health.

Having been Chair of a children’s charity, altruism is close to his heart. Ollie enjoys opening the eyes of his audience to the notion that giving back to those less fortunate should form a part of everyone’s life.

Testimonials from Teachers

"Ollie possess effortless charm and speaks in relaxed and entertaining way that engages audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Being young, driven and ambitious, he epitomises the values and characteristics that we at Young Enterprise endeavour to inspire and spark in all our students. It was clear that Ollie’s story and journey resonates with so many young people and his approachable manner leaves a positive impression on all that meet him."

– Jon Collins, Young Enterprise Manager

"Ollie gave an inspirational presentation to our Year 10 visitors from Fernhill, Cove, Frogmore, Calthorpe Park and Wavell Schools. Ollie’s hard working ethos came across clearly in his extremely relevant talk, which also stressed the importance of excellent communication skills, reliability and enthusiasm."

– Christine Eustace, The Sixth Form College, Farnborough

"Ollie visited Ash Manor School to give a careers talk to our Year 10 and Year 11 students. Ollie’s talk was very motivational and talked about the fact most people’s success is about working hard and taking every opportunity. The students thoroughly enjoyed listening to Ollie and asked him lots of really insightful questions afterwards, which allowed Ollie to talk about having the entrepreneurial spirit and drive to take an idea forward. Mrs McGuire commented that the Year 11 students were buzzing when they returned from the talk."

– Jane Sheridan, STEM Co-ordinator, Ash Manor School

"I've spoken to the students and they really enjoyed it, particularly those with the business mind! They liked how you structured it too / your slides with the key messages. I think some would have liked to hear more about the endurance athlete side more in terms of preparation/mind-set for embarking on those physical tests, but I did remind them there was plenty of time for questions! Overall - very positive and beneficial to the students."

– Jess Weeks (Miss), Head of Scholarship and Academic Pursuits, Gordon’s School