Voted as one of GQ’s Most Connected Men, Oli is often referred to as the hardest-working man in networking and even earned an MBE for his business activities. A serial co-founder, Oli has helped to started numerous ventures, facing every challenge you have.

Oli Barrett is a regular conference and awards host, for events across business, technology, education and entrepreneurship.

In the past year, he has chaired events for the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, Tech London Advocates, The ScaleUp Institute, The Times Tech Summit and The StartUps Awards. He is on the advisory boards the New Entrepreneurs Foundation and Centre for Entrepreneurs, One Million Mentors and Troubadour Theatres, and is a Fellow of impact incubator and business builder Zinc.

As a serial founder, he co-created Tenner (the UK’s largest schools enterprise challenge), Volunteer It Yourself (the social venture which has helped thousands of young people to fix their own youth clubs) and the TOTS (Turn on the Subtitles) campaign to improve children’s literacy.

He co-founded StartUp Britain, which was launched by the British Prime Minister, leading to the creation of PitchUp Britain (with John Lewis and Sainsbury’s) and PopUp Britain, with the opening of shops around the UK. He co-founded The Rainmakers (an innovation and incubation venture) and co-created eleven international trade missions including WebMission and the Clean and Cool Mission. Oli hosts The Lens podcast with Business in the Community, which pairs senior leaders with future leaders, to discuss the future of work. The Connector Unit, founded in 2016, forges valuable and creative connections across a range of sectors and industries.