Oliver Charles T Holt (born 22 May 1966) is an English sports journalist who writes for the newspaper ''

The Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. It is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK and was launched in 1982 by Lord Rothermere. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first pub ...

'' in the United Kingdom. He is the son of Thomas Holt and Coronation Street actress

Eileen Derbyshire Eileen Derbyshire, MBE (born 6 October 1931) is an English retired actress, best known for her role as Emily Bishop in the long-running ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. She played the character for 55 years from January 1961 to January 2 ...

and is an avid

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

supporter. He is known in football journalism circles as the man who embarrasses himself with lazy predictions, but is still well-renowned amongst his peers. He attended the King's School, Macclesfield from 1977–1984. He then read history at Christ Church,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, before studying newspaper journalism at the Cardiff School of Journalism. He started his journalistic career at the ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liver ...

'', and after three years moved to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' as Motor Racing Correspondent in 1993. He graduated to Chief Football Writer in 1996 in time to cover England's hosting of the Euro Championships that summer, and then to Chief Sports Correspondent in 2000. Highlights of his time at ''The Times'' was covering the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

. He joined the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print c ...

'' in 2002 as the Chief Sports Writer, where he has covered many notable sports events. He left the paper in February 2015, to replace Patrick Collins at ''The Mail on Sunday''. Holt was also a regular guest on the '' Sunday Supplement''.

Awards

* 2004 the ''

What the Papers Say ''What The Papers Say'' is a British radio and television series. It consists of quotations from headlines and comment pages in the previous week's newspapers, read in a variety of voices and accents by actors. The quotes are linked by a scri ...

'' Best Sports Writer awardOwen Gibso
''Guardian scoops photography awards''
''The Guardian'', 18 December 2004. Retrieved 2011-12-06. * 2005 Sports Writer of the YearBritish Press Awards: Past winners
, ''Press Gazette'', 29 November 2007. Retrieved 2011-12-06. * 2006 Sports Journalist of the Year

Bibliography

*''Behind the Scenes with Benetton Formula 1'' (1995) with Chris Bennett *''The Bridge: Behind the Scenes at Chelsea'' (1998) with Jon Nicholson *''If You're Second You Are Nothing: Ferguson and Shankly'' (2006) As Ghost Writer: *''Stan: Tackling My Demons by

Stan Collymore Stanley Victor Collymore (born 22 January 1971) is an English football pundit, sport strategist, and former player who played as a striker from 1990 to 2001, most notably for Nottingham Forest and later Liverpool, who he joined from the for ...

'' (2004) *''Left Field by

Graeme Le Saux Graeme Pierre Le Saux ( ; born 17 October 1968) is an English former professional footballer and television pundit. As a versatile left sided player he played most of his career at left back with two spells at Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers, Southamp ...

'' (2007) *''Made in Sheffield - My Story'' by Neil Warnock (2007)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holt, Oliver 1966 births English male journalists English sportswriters Living people The Times people Journalists from Manchester