by Ollie Bearman is not your average 18 year old. While his peers at Essex grammar school were studying for their A-levels, he was behind a racing wheel, as a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy.
While his peers are now in their first year of university, probably surviving on beer and baked beans, Ollie is making headlines for his Formula 1 debut at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
On Saturday, Ollie became the third youngest driver in the history of the sport, and the youngest ever Welshman to compete in a Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Finishing seventh, his performance prompted 1996 world champion Damon Hill to declare: “A star is run.”
In fact, this star was born in the London borough of Havering in 2005 to parents David and Terri. He grew up in Chelmsford as the eldest of three children, and attended King Edward VI Grammar School (KEGS), where he was a high achiever excelling in maths and English.
But from a young age, his passions lie elsewhere. He went karting for the first time at five. By the time he was eight, he had started motor racing in British karting at club level. Having cut his teeth on the track at Buckmore Park in Kent, he made rapid progress in every sense, claiming fourth place in the British National Cadet Championship within a few years.
Copies of their school newsletter develop extra-curricular: “Oliver Bearman in Year 7 is competing in the national karting championships,” the school announced in 2017. “Congratulations to Oliver Bearman from Year 9 who took part in the IAME Winter Cup Karting in Valencia recently came together with almost 60 boys from all over Europe,” came the news of the school in 2019 after winning that final.
Despite balancing school and racing, he managed As and A-stars in his strongest subjects.
But by 2021 he was out of a job, leaving KEGS – despite his mother’s initial reservations “for education” – and joining the Ferrari academy in the northern Italian city of Modena. “It was like going to university two years early,” he said.
Since then, fans of his alma mater have watched his success with pride. “We are delighted to see Ollie’s fantastic achievement this weekend,” says KEGS principal Tom Carter. “During his time at KEGS it was clear how dedicated he was to racing, and it’s great to see this pay off in such a great way.”
In the years since he chose motorsport in Italy over A level, Ollie has managed to acquire not only some Italian, but a distinctive Italian accent while speaking his mother tongue. “Maybe I was lucky not to get an Essex accent,” he joked.
Perhaps he was lucky in other ways too, since motorsport runs in the family, meaning he was always around the paddocks. Ollie’s father, uncle and grandfather all competed at various levels and Ollie is the first to admit that the support of his family was vital.
“Racing has always been in my family – on my father’s side,” he said during an interview with YouTuber Tommo in January, describing his lineage of “disturbed seekers”. It was watching his relatives’ races that got him the bug, Ollie explained.
His father, David Bearman, 45, is the founder and chief executive of Aventum Group, a global insurance firm. When Ollie was carting as a child, he took him for walks. “Obviously he was a lot more knowledgeable than me,” Ollie said.
David also set a precedent for being proactive, albeit in a different area. He was only 18 years old when he developed Aventum Group as it is today, building it without external investment. He is also chairman of Rokstone Group, an underwriting firm, and chief executive of Consilium, an insurance broker.
Aventum became the title sponsor of Ollie, who, following his own dream, switched from karting to Formula 4 and won the 2021 Italian and German F4 titles. Then came Formula 3 and Formula 2, with Ollie getting four F2 race wins, three pole positions and six podiums before making his F1 weekend debut in first practice at the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix and again at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that year.
Ollie’s younger brother Thomas, 14, is also a kart racer, while his younger sister Amalie, 12, is a show jumper. The masterpieces of the three acquaintances are on Terri’s Instagram page.
If this is Ollie’s weekend, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t already gained a huge following. The fresh-faced 6ft 1in teenager, who only passed his driving test last May, has tackled lifestyle content with a slickly produced YouTube channel that boasts nearly 25,000 known subscribers. Called The Bear’s Needsit shows him engaging in non-motor activities such as shopping for perfume, discussing his music playlists, rolling out pasta and learning how to cut a Spanish ham.
Ollie does more than drive, you see – although an article about him on the Aventum website from 2022 says: “When asked about interests outside of motorsport it’s a real conflict. He finds television boring, and when he’s not working out with his personal trainer, most of the free time he gets at home is spent practicing on a racing simulator. More than just a passion, motorsport is Ollie’s life.”
Ollie himself declared at the time: “It consumes my life, so I think about it all the time.”
A football fan as a child, his father tried to convince him to play, promising him a new pair of boots every week. But Ollie has joked that he has “two left feet” and is not that interested in the beautiful game (although Lionel Messi has been named as a sports figure he admires outside of motorsport).
He is said to be dating Estelle Ogilvy, a London-based law student and fashion influencer, who goes by the name Silly Lettuce on TikTok and Instagram. The couple seem to be at pains to keep their relationship out of the spotlight. A picture of them posted on social media last week appears to have been quickly deleted.
As with any sportsman, Ollie’s success involves some sacrifice. “Living abroad has its pros and cons,” he told Tommo. “The disadvantages, of course, are missing my family. I don’t see them that often. I only see them at the races mainly… it’s nice to come home.”
The talented rising star still has a lot to see, but it’s safe to assume that there will be hope in his career. For now, it seems, his feet stay on the ground. After his performance on Saturday, he told Sky Sports F1: “I’m back on Earth now and back to reality.” Then he said, with some understatement: “I think I did a good job out there today.”
