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Founder of Optimist Performance, Ollie Phillips is a former world-class professional rugby player turned business leader and motivational speaker.
As England’s most successful Sevens captain, Ollie Phillips led the team to three World Series victories and was named World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year in 2009. Beyond rugby, Ollie is a trailblazing adventurer and Guinness World Record holder, renowned for pushing the boundaries of human endurance:
Ollie also holds four Guinness World Records, achieved at the North Pole and Mount Everest.
In addition to his adventures, Ollie has shared his expertise in coaching and leadership, serving as the Head Coach for Wales Women 7s and contributing to sporting development.
Now, Ollie channels his wealth of experience to help businesses overcome adversity and achieve success. Through high-impact speeches and interactive sessions, he inspires teams to embrace positive change, build resilience, and perform at their best.
Success rarely comes without setbacks, challenges and moments of uncertainty. Drawing on his experiences as an elite rugby player, coach, adventurer and record-breaker, Ollie Phillips explores what it really takes to overcome adversity and continue moving forward when things do not go to plan.
From competing at the highest level of professional sport to taking on extraordinary endurance challenges, Ollie has repeatedly faced situations where resilience, determination and mindset were tested. He shares the lessons he has learned about dealing with setbacks, maintaining perspective and turning difficult circumstances into opportunities for growth.
This powerful and practical keynote encourages audiences to reframe adversity, take ownership of their response to challenges and develop the mindset needed to keep progressing, both personally and professionally.
How we respond in challenging situations can have a greater impact on our performance than the situation itself. In this engaging keynote, Ollie Phillips explores the role emotions play in decision-making, performance, relationships and leadership, and how we can learn to manage them rather than allowing them to manage us.
Drawing on his experiences as an international rugby player, captain, coach and adventurer, Ollie shares real examples of performing under pressure, dealing with uncertainty and maintaining composure when the stakes are high.
Audiences will explore how to recognise emotional triggers, respond rather than react, maintain focus under pressure and develop greater self-awareness. Ollie demonstrates how mastering our emotions is not about suppressing them, but understanding and using them effectively to improve performance, communication and leadership.
Change is inevitable, but how we respond to it can determine whether we struggle or thrive. Ollie Phillips draws on an extraordinary career that has taken him from international rugby to some of the world’s toughest endurance challenges to explore how individuals and teams can embrace change with confidence.
Ollie shares the mindset and practical strategies that have helped him step into unfamiliar environments, overcome uncertainty and continually push beyond his comfort zone. From climbing Everest and sailing around the world to competing at the highest level of rugby, his experiences demonstrate the importance of adaptability, curiosity and a willingness to embrace challenge.
This keynote challenges audiences to see change not simply as something to manage, but as an opportunity to learn, grow and perform differently. Attendees leave with a more positive approach to uncertainty and the confidence to take on their next challenge.
High performance is not created by motivation alone. It comes from the behaviours we consistently choose, particularly when things become difficult. In this practical keynote, Ollie Phillips explores how small, positive behaviours can have a significant impact on individual performance, team culture and long-term success.
Drawing on his experience as an elite athlete, captain, coach and business leader, Ollie examines the behaviours that help people perform at their best, including accountability, resilience, communication, consistency and a positive mindset.
Rather than focusing on short-term motivation, Ollie shows audiences how to build sustainable habits that support high performance. He explores how individual behaviours influence those around us and how positive actions can create a ripple effect across an entire team or organisation.
The result is a practical and motivating session that gives audiences clear ideas they can apply immediately in their professional and personal lives.
Great teams are not simply groups of talented individuals. They are built through trust, communication, shared purpose and a commitment to making each other better. Drawing on his experience as England Sevens captain, international coach and business leader, Ollie Phillips explores what it takes to create teams that perform consistently and sustainably.
Ollie shares lessons from elite sport about creating a strong team culture, understanding individual strengths, building accountability and ensuring everyone is working towards a common goal. He also explores the importance of leadership, communication and psychological safety in creating environments where people can perform at their best.
The keynote goes beyond traditional team-building, focusing on the behaviours and principles that enable teams to thrive over the long term. Audiences leave with practical insights into building stronger relationships, improving collaboration and creating a culture where high performance can be sustained.
An Inspirational Presenter on Leadership – Ollie delivers invaluable insights from leading teams in some of the most challenging environments in the world and from his experiences in the world of sport. With tremendous perception, he applies these lessons to the world of business, offering highly informative, entertaining, and insightful presentations.
Many more have stood atop Everest than have conquered the world’s oceans; fewer still have circumnavigated the globe. What makes Ollie’s feat unequalled is not just his endurance and fortitude but his unwavering ability to inspire others throughout the gruelling 11-month journey.
