Olivia Crellin
Before starting On Purpose in October 2023, Olivia had a portfolio career as a lecturer, journalist, filmmaker and social entrepreneur. She studied English Literature at Cambridge. While at university she travelled a lot including in the Middle East where she first discovered her love for filming while making two very amatuer documentaries in Syria and the West Bank.
After graduating, she moved to Chile to teach English and started freelancing as a foreign correspondent reporting for the likes of The Economist, The Guardian and PRI in Chile, Ecuador and Brazil. Olivia speaks Spanish, French and some Portuguese.
She studied a Masters in journalism and documentary film at Columbia University in New York, working for a number of media organisations, including The Wall Street Journal, AJ+, and VICE News before moving back to the UK. There, Olivia worked as a staff producer, reporter, filmmaker and presenter for the World Service and World TV at the BBC until 2021.
After leaving the BBC, she taught journalism and undertook a number of online editor roles while working on launching the social mobility media organisation, PressPad. Olivia continues to head the social enterprise she founded pre-pandemic and is preparing with her team for a relaunch of their services in early 2024 - a move which includes finalising grant funding and investment. If you’re interested in finding out more about getting involved with PressPad’s relaunch please get in touch: olivia@presspad.co.uk.
When I worked in the media, it was obvious that the lack of representation among journalists in newsrooms coloured the type of stories covered and the way they were told, in turn distorting the lived experience of the audiences watching, the way we see the world and the perception of what is possible in the future. I'm interested in challenging the mindsets of those in the media, ensuring it becomes a positive force in society and individuals' lives, and a constructive tool in our efforts to bring positive change to people and the planet.
Through my involvement in the On Purpose programme, I hope I can expand my skills and experience to contribute to working in the for-purpose and innovation space.
After graduating, she moved to Chile to teach English and started freelancing as a foreign correspondent reporting for the likes of The Economist, The Guardian and PRI in Chile, Ecuador and Brazil. Olivia speaks Spanish, French and some Portuguese.
She studied a Masters in journalism and documentary film at Columbia University in New York, working for a number of media organisations, including The Wall Street Journal, AJ+, and VICE News before moving back to the UK. There, Olivia worked as a staff producer, reporter, filmmaker and presenter for the World Service and World TV at the BBC until 2021.
After leaving the BBC, she taught journalism and undertook a number of online editor roles while working on launching the social mobility media organisation, PressPad. Olivia continues to head the social enterprise she founded pre-pandemic and is preparing with her team for a relaunch of their services in early 2024 - a move which includes finalising grant funding and investment. If you’re interested in finding out more about getting involved with PressPad’s relaunch please get in touch: olivia@presspad.co.uk.
When I worked in the media, it was obvious that the lack of representation among journalists in newsrooms coloured the type of stories covered and the way they were told, in turn distorting the lived experience of the audiences watching, the way we see the world and the perception of what is possible in the future. I'm interested in challenging the mindsets of those in the media, ensuring it becomes a positive force in society and individuals' lives, and a constructive tool in our efforts to bring positive change to people and the planet.
Through my involvement in the On Purpose programme, I hope I can expand my skills and experience to contribute to working in the for-purpose and innovation space.
