Ollie and son, a tradition of trade

“I can take him anywhere, leave him on a job, and when I come back, he’s done the wiring,” says Ollie. He laughs. “It’s grouse.” 

Ollie, of Ollie Electrical, has been working with Beacon for years - wiring up lights on shoots and putting up with the chaos behind the camera. Lately he’s turned up on shoots with an apprentice he trusts more than most: his son Jack. 

Jack’s 17 and reckons school had worn a bit thin, so when the chance came to split his time between Year 11, TAFE, and work with his dad, he grabbed it. “By choice,” he’s quick to add. Ollie’s glad Jack still has that connection with his mates at school while picking up real-world skills on site - a balance Ollie never had. 

Asked what it’s like working with his son, Ollie plays it down. “Oh, it’s alright,” he says with a smile. Truth is, Jack’s been tagging along for years - weekends, call-outs, projects around the house. Now it’s just official. 

Good timing too. Last year Ollie struggled to find an apprentice, like most in the trade. This year, he reckons schools must be pushing it harder, because the calls haven’t stopped. And it’s no wonder his teaching skills are in demand. Ollie’s a larrikin through and through, but he runs a sharp business. He’s never been out of work, never needed to advertise, and clearly makes work a place people want to be. Even Jack, who once hesitated on the ladder, found his feet without any push. “He got there in the end,” Ollie says with a grin. 

Pranks, it seems, are part of the deal. Ollie calls himself a clown, and Jack agrees. “It’s not workplace bullying when you’re doing it at home,” Ollie deadpans. 

And Jack’s not the only one who’s been on the firing end of Ollie’s good humour. Ollie remembers an apprentice who was scared of both heights and spiders. “How do you reckon that goes, crawling under a house or working on a roof?” he laughs, nudging Jack. “We had fun with that one, didn’t we?” They’d tuck dead spiders into the ute’s sun visor with a leg hanging out and wait for the poor bloke to pull it down. 

“I don’t take too much too seriously,” Ollie says. “You gotta have fun at work. When it’s not fun, there’s no point going.” 

But the jokes always come with lessons. When asked about his favourite part of working with his dad, Jack says its the knowledge. “All the stuff he teaches me…without Dad, I wouldn’t know anything about the trade,” Jack says. Handling the unexpected, finding the right timing, it’s knowledge you don’t get from a textbook. 

Asked the same, Ollie doesn’t hesitate. “It’s such a buzz. To a degree, it’s a dream come true. I always followed my dad around like a lost puppy, and now I’ve got my own son doing the same. If he wants to take over the business one day, I’m happy with that.”