About Oliver

Before venturing off the beaten track, I began on the conventional path of a medical doctor. The few years I spent rotating around London hospitals and clinics were very rich, serving as an apprenticeship in two senses.

First, I learnt all about the body – how it goes wrong, how to detect problems, and what treatments work. But second, I began to reckon with deeper questions, questions that lay beyond the realms anatomy, physiology and biochemistry.

Is there meaning in illness and suffering? How does the magic of healing occur? Are we more than our bodies? When the body stutters, breaks down, or takes its final breath, such questions crystallise into awareness. These are matters of the soul.

Although I had planned on becoming a psychiatrist for several years, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Time spent in the field, while studying its philosophical underpinnings, left me disillusioned; I came to believe that the medical model is not a suitable framework for understanding and attending to emotional suffering.

I also had my own wounds to tend, my own healing work to do. I began this task in earnest the moment I stepped away from that first world I had come to know.

In an attempt to create a fresh understanding of my life, I began working with counsellors and coaches, went on silent retreat, immersed myself in nature, and learned the beautiful Daoist art of Qi Gong. As I slowed down and descended back into my body, long-neglected facets of my psyche cracked open; both repressed joys and hidden sorrows started thawing out.

To navigate this wave of psychic material, I felt called to the work of Carl Jung, whose work has had a significant influence on my journey. I began engaging with my dreams and nurturing my imagination; a new phase of soul-searching and meaning-making was afoot. More recently, I have been delving into the enriching world of James Hillman’s archetypal psychology, as well as the mythopoetic men’s movement in the works of Robert Bly and Robert Moore.

Training & Credentials

Rilke said that the only journey is the one within. I have found this to be true; the inner journey is primary, and only our way of being can convey such a thing.

However, if you’re interested in some of the things I’ve been up to in life, here is a relevant list:

• Alchemy: The Process of Transformation – Centre for Counselling & Psychotherapy Education (2025)
• Volunteer Bereavement Counsellor – Cruse (2023-2024)
• Certificate in Counselling Skills – Metanoia Institute (2023)
• Nonviolent Communication (NVC), Level 1 (2022)
• PG Module in Philosophy of Mental Health – University of Central Lancashire (2020)
• Teach the Teacher Training Course – Oxford Medical (2019)
• Medical Doctor – National Health Service, London (2017-2020)
• Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) – University College London (2011-2017)