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Post by kiwimike on Aug 21, 2022 10:20:02 GMT
Was incredibly saddened to hear of Oli's passing tonight (Sunday evening New Zealand time) of a few hours ago.
Oli was a true legend of the industry, and an inspiration to me because of two of my passions, art and gaming. His magazine covers never ceased to fill me with wonder and inspiration, and that remained my whole life from school up into my 50s.
Friending him online was a genuine thrill to 'kind of' meet one of your heroes, and he was as gentle and kind hearted as you could hope to meet.
Was delighted to be involved in the kickstarter for the Fusion book on his Art, an item I will treasure forever.
Thoughts with his friends and family. He will be massively missed but never forgotten.
RIP Oli.
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Post by fredghostmaster on Aug 21, 2022 10:32:10 GMT
RIP Oli
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Post by spector on Aug 21, 2022 12:02:55 GMT
Yeah I was preparing for this after the message Chris Wilkins left a couple of days ago. I was lucky enough to meet him and Roger Kean at a gaming event a few years back and he was still involved in new projects. Fans of the 8 bit scene will never forget his Crash/ZZAP covers as they were better than everyone else's. RIP Oli.
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Post by learnedrobb on Aug 21, 2022 14:38:48 GMT
I wasn't a Crash reader, but his incredible covers always caught my eye on the shelf as I picked up my copy of YS.
The cover of Issue 1 in particular stands out to me as an iconic image of the British 8bit micro scene.
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Post by merman on Aug 21, 2022 14:46:54 GMT
As a ZZAP! reader I loved the covers Oli painted.
And in recent years I had the honour of being immortalised by Oli in the reviewer’s black jersey, for the Annuals and the revived ZZAP! 64
Oli was a genuinely nice guy and modest bout his talents. Such a sad loss.
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Post by rossi46 on Aug 21, 2022 14:59:55 GMT
This is terrible news. I never met him or bought ZZap, but I was more than familiar with his art over the years.
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Post by sega2006 on Aug 21, 2022 16:22:49 GMT
Loved seeing his work on the RG covers, always had an amazing quality time them.
RIP Oli
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Post by Markopoloman on Aug 21, 2022 16:30:33 GMT
Yeah, a very very sad day indeed  I met him a few times at events. Him and Roger were such friendly chaps and a pleasure to talk to. Oli's artwork will live on forever - there is no escaping it, thankfully! Having Zzap!64, Crash & Amtix back along with his amazing covers is a perfect way to keep him in all of our memories  RIP Oli |
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Post by RetroBob on Aug 21, 2022 20:39:38 GMT
Sorry to hear this. I saw his art firstly through SEGA Force. I loved the visceral nature of his interpretation of the game.
RIP Oli.
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Hiro
Atari 2600
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Post by Hiro on Aug 21, 2022 23:01:41 GMT
Very, very sad news. His artwork has accompanied me through my Commodore years and will always delight my eyes as long as I live. If there's a heaven, it must be an amazingly decorated place with Oliver and Bob Wakelin there!
Thanks for everything, Oli.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2022 7:51:50 GMT
Very sad news. To think that someone with his talent was creating covers for a magazine - it really was worlds away from the blandness of other magazines of that time.
Best wishes to all those close to him.
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Post by slacey1070 on Aug 22, 2022 9:05:26 GMT
An amazing artist - what a talent.
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Post by slacey1070 on Aug 22, 2022 11:52:39 GMT
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Post by megamixer on Aug 22, 2022 18:40:20 GMT
RIP
His 'era' was a bit before my time but I've always admired those covers and wished that gaming mags hadn't moved away from such high quality art and onto bland 3D renders.
I'm not aware of the background of his passing; was it a battle against a long-term illness? For some reason, I had it in my head that he wasn't "that" advanced in age so I was shocked to see this news.
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Post by Chinnico on Aug 22, 2022 22:27:47 GMT
I am really saddened by the news. I got to appreciate his art mostly because of his the Zzap! covers.
I had the pleasure of meeting him onxe at a R3play event in 2012ish, when I bought the art book directly from him. It came as a surprise that he was also prefectly fluent in Italian too!
Really a loss.
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Its just some interesting potential opportunities for AI and automation to help and free humans in the future, rather than enslave us. We need General Zod to implement it.