Ollie Henry for Rusty

Interview by Andrew Semark

I’ve had the pleasure of watching and getting to know Olli over the last couple of years and it’s exciting to see who he is becoming. Olli is slowly creating his own Identity in West Oz and his surfing has come into its own at the same time. He is a down-to-earth grom with a passion for the ocean and for the environment he is surrounded by. His ability above the lip is only surpassed by his ability to hold his own in a solid Southern Ocean slab.

It’s always nice getting to link up and shoot frames. Some questions from our last hang;

Anj: When did you start surfing?

Ollie: When I was six, always saw Dad going out and wanted to have a crack. Ended up learning at Snapper which was just down the road from where I lived. I moved West when I was 12. What a shock that was.

Anj: What do you love about the West?

Ollie: Man I just love the power of it and there’s usually waves. It’s pretty quiet most of the time, so not surfing with heaps of fuckwits is splendid. If I want something proper heavy I can just steam down the coast. I really like the climate as well. There’s a bit of everything, sometimes even all in one day!

Anj: What makes Olli tick?

Ollie In the water I’m super amped on going for broke, not holding back. Trying to land a big punt, getting a big pit. Full commitment is key, even if you fuck it up knowing you put everything into is pretty mental.  

Anj: What do you hope surfing looks like when you’re 60?

Ollie:  I’d like to see people with at least one flaccid wave riding device (foamies/bodyboards) in their quiver. It’s just necessary, I’ve got four. 

Anj: What do you think is right with surfing now?

Ollie: You can be whoever you want, there’s so many different types of surfers. Small wave, big wave, twin fin, hipsters... etc. I guess really it’s just like a subspecies of reptilians.

Anj: What goes through your mind when towing the right?

Ollie: I get super psyched and it basically takes over, I feel a bit nervous on drive down but once I’m in the water I get fucking psyched. There’s no point stressing about falling off and dying, I’ve usually done all that during the four hour drive down there. I’ve got this poster at home signed by Josh Kerr that I got when I was 7. It says “To Ollie, Go Big!” So ever since I was young that’s the only way I’ve wanted to do things. Cheers kerrzy.

Anj: What’s in the future for Ollie?

Ollie: Trying to build my profile. I’m so psyched to get good waves, small, medium and large. I’m looking to put a video part out soon, hopefully people like it. Definitely going to keep going hard for as long as I can.