Quick Facts
GeminiBiography
Philip Olivier (born Philip Lee Borg-Olivier on 4 June 1980 in Liverpool) is a British actor, model and stage performer best known for playing the role of Tim O'Leary in the soap opera Brookside. He is also known for appearing in many of Big Finish's Doctor Who audio dramas, playing the Seventh Doctor's companion Hex. Philip is the grandson of former Maltese prime minister Giorgio Borg-Olivier </ref>[1]</ref>
Career
1995–2003
Olivier's first role was in 1995 in the Channel 4 production Hearts and Minds with Christopher Eccleston.
In 1996 he started playing his first television role, as Timothy "Tinhead" O'Leary in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside, and continued in the role until the show was cancelled in 2003. He also appeared in the one-off drama Brookside: Unfinished Business, which followed the series in 2003.
2004–present
Since leaving Brookside Olivier has performed in two dozen audio plays based on the Doctor Who television series by Big Finish Productions as a companion of the Seventh Doctor by the name of Hex. Philip has also appeared as one of the guest regulars in the Channel 4 comedy sketch show Bo Selecta.
He is popular with gay audiences, hosting Mr Gay UK in 2005 and appearing on-stage at several Gay Pride events. Olivier appeared nude in the December 2008 and the April 2009 editions of the gay magazine Attitude.
In 2005 he won the Channel 4 reality TV show The Games, dominating the competition from start to finish. After displaying an impressive physique in the series, Olivier went on to do a number of photo shoots and released calendars from 2006 to 2009.
2006 saw him play the role of Adam Tyler, a teacher struggling with his sexuality, in the Hollyoaks spin-off series Hollyoaks: In the City on E4.
On 7 February 2007 Olivier featured on Never Mind the Buzzcocks on Phill Jupitus's team along with Donny Tourette.
Olivier appeared on the show Ghosthunting with... Paul O'Grady and Friends, which was broadcast on ITV2 on 6 September 2008, alongside Jennifer Ellison (who had played his character's wife Emily in Brookside), Natasha Hamilton and the show's host Yvette Fielding.
In 2008 Olivier appeared in the filme The Crew, released straight to DVD in early 2009. He played the role of a gangster named Paul the Hom.
Olivier appeared in a celebrity edition of Come Dine with Me in February 2009. He competed alongside Christopher Biggins, Julia Bradbury and Edwina Currie and finished second to Biggins, the eventual winner. During February and March 2009 he competed in "Escape from Takeaway Prison", a section on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, which he won on 21 March 2009. Philip also appeared in an episode of Missing, a BBC One afternoon drama, playing club owner and gangster Mark Stone in March of the same year.
2009 also saw Olivier start to perform in musicals. He starred in Never Forget which is about a Take That tribute band forming. He played the role of former stripper Dirty Harry. He also starred in the title role of the Camberley Theatre pantomime Dick Whittington.
On 28 September 2010 Olivier appeared in the BBC soap opera Doctors. He played the role of Matt Darby, a gay yoga instructor. Later in 2010, he took the role of Muddles in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Connaught Theatre, Worthing.
In 2013 (Series 4, Episode 6), he featured in an episode of the Channel 4 production of "Four in a Bed" where he and his friend Alfie Bubble own and run the Liverpool B&B 'Yellow Submarine'. Notable episode, where the guests were served a takeaway for breakfast.
In 2014 Olivier starred in the soap opera Doctors.
In 2014 Olivier first appeared in Benidorm (the sixth series) as the troublesome Jason Gallhager. In 2015 he reprised this role..
In 2019 he appeared in the LBGT short film Just Me (2019) co-starring actor Carl Loughlin. The film addressed the theme of accepting your sexuality, and hetrosexual men who have sex with men. The film gathered a lot of attention in the LBGT worldwide press, including an interview in The Advocate Magazine. Just Me is due for release Oct 2019 by Peccadillo Pictures on their Boys on Film collection.