| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | British | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 5 June 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Great Britain | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Rowing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Coxed pair, Coxless four, Eight | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | University of London Boat Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Oliver Robert George Cook (born 5 June 1990) is a British international rower. He is a world champion and an Olympian.
Whilst in education at Abingdon School he gained colours for the Abingdon School Boat Club eights. In 2007 he rowed across the English Channel to raise money for charity. After leaving Abingdon in 2008 he attended the London School of Economics, [1] where he studied International Relations and History.
In 2011 Ollie was part of the Row Zambezi Expedition. It was the first time anyone had rowed the 1,000 km of the Upper Zambezi, starting from near its source on the Angolan/Zambian border to Victoria Falls in Zambia. The Expedition raised over £25,000 for Village Water. He is currently[ when? ] studying for a postgraduate diploma in International Development at East Berkshire College. [2]
He is the brother of British rower Jamie Cook. [3]
In 2012 he became part of the British Rowing squad and was selected for the 2012 World Rowing U23 Championships in Trakai, Lithuania. [4] The following year he was part of the Men's Coxless Pairs at the 2013 World Rowing Championships with James Foad. The pair won the B Final. [5] He won a European Bronze Medal in the Men's Eight at the 2014 European Rowing Championships.
In 2016 he won a Men's Coxed Pair gold medal at the World Rowing Cup in Poznan [6] before becoming a world champion in the Men's Coxed Pair during the 2016 World Rowing Championships in Rotterdam with Callum McBrierty and Henry Fieldman. [7]
In 2017 he was named in the Oxford eight for the 2017 boat race alongside his brother Jamie and fellow Old Abingdonian Vassilis Ragoussis; a race in which Oxford won. [8] [9]
At the 2019 European Rowing Championships Cook was part of the team that won the gold medal in the fours. [10] [11] The crew included his fellow Abingdonian Matthew Rossiter. [12] The same crew then won a bronze medal at the 2019 World Rowing Championships. [13]
In 2021, he won a second European gold medal when winning the coxless four in Varese, Italy. [14] At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, he appeared for Team GB in the coxless four event. The team finished fourth after veering off course in the closing stages of the final. Cook, who had the responsibility for steering, accepted the blame for the error, [15] though it was later pointed out it had not been his fault. [16]
Peter K. Reed OBE is a retired British Olympic rower. Reed is a three-times Olympic gold medallist – earning gold in the Men's coxless four at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, and then a gold medal in the Men's eight at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He has won five gold medals and three silver medals at the World Championships.
Robin Edwin Geoffrey Bourne-Taylor, CGC is a former British officer and sportsman. He is a three times Boat Race winner, and for his service in Afghanistan he was awarded the second-highest British gallantry medal.
Andrew Triggs Hodge is a British former rower - a three time Olympic champion and four time world champion. In the British coxless four in 2012 he set a world's best time which still stood as of 2023.
Thomas James MBE is a British rower, twice Olympic champion and victorious Cambridge Blue. In a British coxless four in 2012 he set a world's best time which still stood as of 2021.
Helen Glover is a British professional rower and a member of the Great Britain Rowing Team. Ranked the number 1 female rower in the world in 2015–16, she is a two-time Olympic champion, triple World champion, quintuple World Cup champion and quadruple European champion. She and her partner Heather Stanning were the World, Olympic, World Cup and European record holders, plus the Olympic, World and European champions in the women's coxless pairs. She has also been a British champion in both women's fours and quadruple sculls.
Heather Mary Stanning OBE is a retired British professional rower, a member of the Great Britain Rowing Team, and Royal Artillery officer. Ranked number 1 female rower in the world in 2016, she is a double Olympic champion, double World champion, quadruple World Cup champion and double European champion. As of May 2015, she and her partner Helen Glover were the World, Olympic, World Cup and European record holders, plus the reigning Olympic, World, and European champions in the women's coxless pairs. She has also been a British champion in both women's fours and quad sculls.
George Christopher Nash is a British rower. He is dual Olympian, dual Olympic medal winner and three time world champion.
William Spencer Satch is a British rower and Olympic gold medallist.
Constantine Michael Louloudis is a Greek-British rower. He is an Olympic champion, two time world champion and four time Boat Race winner.
James Edward Timothy Cook is a former British rower.
Abingdon School Boat Club is the rowing club for Abingdon School. The club has a strong tradition of providing rowers for the Oxford University Boat Club, Cambridge University Boat Club and international teams.
Vassilis Ragoussis is a Greek-British rower.
Matthew Rossiter is a British international rower. He is an Olympian and has won medals at World Rowing Championships.
Joshua Hicks is an Australian representative rower. He is an Olympian and a two-time world champion who won gold in the coxless four at the 2017 World Rowing Championships and defended that title at Plovdiv in 2018. He competed in the Australian men's coxless pair at Tokyo 2021.
Thomas Ford is a British national representative rower. He is a two-time world champion and an Olympic bronze medallist.
Jacob Dawson is a British representative rower. He is a world champion and an Olympic bronze medallist with both those titles won the Great Britain men's eight.
Rory Gibbs is a British representative rower - an Olympian and a two-time world champion. He won the 2022 and 2023 world championship titles in the British men's eight. Between 2016 and 2023 he rowed in victorious crews across six events at the Henley Royal Regatta.
Sholto Carnegie is a British representative rower. He is an Olympian and a two-time world champion in the Great Britain men's eight.
Charles Richard Jeremy Elwes is a British national representative rower. He is an Olympic medallist and two-time world champion.
Thomas William Kenelm Digby is a British national representative rower. He is a two-time world and European champion.
