Oliver Maclean

Oliver (Ollie) Maclean began rowing while he studied at King's College in Auckland. While there, he gained selection into the 2016 New Zealand Junior team where he rowed in the Men’s Junior Quad where they came 5th at the World Rowing Junior Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

After Ollie’s last year at King’s College, he joined the Auckland RPC where again he achieved success winning the U20 double, coming 2nd in the U20 single and 3rd in the U22 quad at the 2017 Rocket Foods New Zealand Rowing Championships. Following this performance, Ollie was selected for the NZ U23 team to race at the 2017 World Rowing U23 Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. At these Champs, Ollie won Gold in the Men’s Quad with his crewmates Jack O’Leary, Jack Lopas, & Jordan Parry. This was the first gold medal that New Zealand had ever won at any level in the Men’s Quadruple Scull boat class on the world stage.

Once the 2017 U23 campaign finished up, Ollie headed to Northeastern University in Boston in the USA. Halfway through his second year of study at Northeastern, Ollie transferred to the University of California, Berkeley where he was selected for the top Varsity 8+ for the IRA National University Champs regatta. Cal finished in 4th at this event. Shortly after the conclusion of this event, Ollie was selected in the Men’s U23 Double with former crewmate Jack Lopas to compete at the 2019 World Rowing U23 Championships in Sarasota, Florida. Ollie and Jack had a blistering regatta only just falling short to Italy to claim the Silver medal.

Due to COVID-19, Ollie returned to New Zealand in 2020 to continue his training and was selected as a reserve for the 2021 New Zealand Men’s Team, where he headed to the Tokyo Olympics being a key asset in the squad.

Ollie returned to the University of California, Berkeley where he went on to have two of his most dominant seasons - going undefeated and claiming back-to-back IRA National Rowing Championship wins for the 2022/2023 seasons. Ollie has now been selected in the 2023 NZ Elite Men's Four to compete at World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland - coached by Mike Rodger and Malcolm McIntyre. The crew came away with a Bronze medal, an outstanding result for the newly formed crew.

Ollie has now graduated from the University of California, Berkeley. He enjoys the beach, travelling and spending time in the NZ outdoors.