Producer & Writer | Site Under Construction
“There has been a post pandemic rash of writers rushing hither and thither across Britain for book material, but this is one of the most imaginative and engaging.”
Country Life
“An extraordinary picture of British faith at its most eccentric…The book is immensely well-researched and playful. Smith has written something special.”
The Times
"A book so inspiring you'll buy a new pair of hiking books and set out on a pilgrimage of your own."
Charlie Cooper
This Country & Myth Country
"Smith is an ideal guide, movingly conveying the power of the places he visits."
An FT Book of the Year 2024
Oliver Smith is an award winning travel journalist. For 10 years he travelled the world working for Lonely Planet Magazine. Today his work can be found in various outlets – FT Weekend, The Times and National Geographic Traveller – he also writes a regular walking column for Waitrose Weekend.
Oliver has been named Travel Writer of the Year on four occasions in the UK, and is the recipient of the Lowell Thomas Gold Award for reporting in Outside Magazine in the United States.
His first book: The Atlas of Abandoned Places: A Journey Through the World’s Forgotten Wonders was published by Octopus in 2022.
His first narrative travel book: On a Holy Island: A Modern Pilgrimage Across Britain, sets out to radically reframe our idea of 'pilgrimage' in Britain by retracing sacred travel made across time, and is published in March 2024 by Bloomsbury.
recent journalism
Grief and Deep Time on Chesil Beach
(FT Weekend, 2023)
The Sacred Centre of the Pacific
(FT Weekend, 2023)
Confronting my Nemesis
(The Times 2022)
The Sudden Solitude of the Desert of Wales
(FT Weekend 2022)
selected journalism
The Pub at the End of the World
(Outside, 2020)
The World's Busiest Mountain
(Outside, 2020)
After the Flood in Armenia
(Lonely Planet magazine, 2016)
Into the Empty Quarter
(Lonely Planet magazine, 2015)
talks 2024-2025
17 April 2024 British Pilgrimage Trust, St James Clerkenwell
18 April 2024 Toppings Ely
4 July 2024 Byline Times Festival with Stone Club
27 August 2024 Waterstones Canterbury
5 September 2024 Southwark Cathedral
9 October 2024 Waterstones St Albans
17 October 2024 Waterstones Norwich
5 November 2024 Bridport Literary Festival
8 November 2024 St Peter in the Forest, E17
17 November 2024 Folkestone Book Festival
24 November 2024 Kendal Mountain Festival (Macs stage)
23 February 2025 Faversham Literary Festival (details to follow)
corporate
Oliver Smith has worked producing corporate content and video for a large number of clients, including British Red Cross, Mammut, Barclaycard, GoPro, Land Rover, Sport England, Guardian Labs and others. Some recent examples below:
British Red Cross Connecting Communities Project
Producer / Director, 2022
Writer, 2022