In the kitchen at Bianchis restaurant, surrounded by stainless steel, knives and meat slicers, Olly Harrison-Stock, in his chef's blacks, appears so comfortable and capable it would be easy to assume he had been working in hospitality since he was a teen. But Olly, who has worked at the Italian restaurant in Montpelier for around a year, only began training to become a chef in 2019 in his 30s, completing his apprenticeship at a five-star London hotel virtually during the lockdown.
Before that, he had a successful career as a radio DJ and had recently signed a contract with Heart Radio. Articulate and personable, it’s obvious upon meeting Olly that he would be equally at ease in front of the mic and mixing desk as a whisk and stove.
With a father who was a radio plugger, Olly says he grew up knowing he wanted to work in the business. He said: “When everyone at school was like ‘I want to be a footballer, I want to be an astronaut’, I was saying, ‘I want to be a radio presenter.’”
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After working his way up through community radio, Olly was eventually scouted for a contract with Heart. Coming after years of sending out demos and show reels and doing live host work to fill the gaps, Olly described finally having a permanent role as a huge relief. He said: “It was quite possibly the happiest day of my life.”
Unfortunately, within a year of achieving that milestone, there was a nationwide de-regulation at Global, the parent company of Heart, which meant many people, including Olly, lost their jobs. Rather than return to the uncertainty of being a presenter without a contract, Olly instead decided to make a radical career change and explore his other passion - cooking.
He said: “[Radio] was what I built my life around and wanted to do. But I always wanted to know what it was like to be a chef. I couldn't handle the thought of having to start again [in radio], and we also wanted to start a family.” He typed ‘chef apprenticeships London’ into Google and sent off an email, getting a response the next day inviting him to an opening day.
After making it through from the original 140 applicants to the final few, Olly was accepted onto the course, passing with a full distinction. He said: “I think it helped I was a bit older than everyone else. I was doing service on a section within two months of being there, which is just kind of crazy for somebody that had never worked in a professional kitchen."
Olly’s training time was cut short by the pandemic. Despite being a born and bred Londoner, he'd always loved visiting Bristol with his wife, who grew up in the city, and in 2020, with the world on hiatus, the couple decided to relocate to raise their family here.
As indoor dining was banned, Olly took on stay-at-home dad duties for his daughter while his partner worked, but as time went on, he had the urge to get back in the kitchen. One day last year, while walking past Bianchis in Montpelier, he struck up a conversation with a woman outside the restaurant who he assumed worked inside and asked if they happened to be recruiting any kitchen staff.
They turned out to be a delivery driver within the group, but they offered to hand over Olly's phone number to one of the bosses, Joe Harvey. They took the number down incorrectly, but serendipitously, Olly had mentioned that his wife’s childhood neighbour had gone to school with Joe, and through tracing that connection, the restaurant was able to get back in touch with him to come in for an interview.
Olly said: “I think that's a perfect example of what Bristol is like in the sense that everybody is connected in this city, whether you work in the industry or whether you've got a friend who works or owns or runs in the industry. Everybody knows people in Bristol, and that's just such a nice thing about the city.
“I was looking for part-time work in the hospitality industry, and in cheffing particularly, it’s pretty much unheard of. But they (Bianchis) were totally receptive because they’re family people, and their ethos is we're a family; we want to run out our site like a family.
“I really thank Bianchis because I just don't think I would have got that kind of level of accommodation anywhere else. It's a level of care and thought that I think you get when you work somewhere like here, but particularly I'm noticing in the wider Bristol scene because it's just that's just the Bristol way.
“I think the Bristol food scene is amazing. London feels far too oversaturated, and I know there's a lot in Bristol, but everybody's doing their thing uniquely. I went to Bokman for dinner recently, and it was one of the best meals I've had in years!
“As a new chef, it was so important to me to be able to be somewhere where you can feel you can achieve more. Particularly in maybe a shorter time because I changed my career.”
Recently Olly was approached by a friend Alessandro Sorenti who wanted to use his career change as the subject of a video as part of a job application. His friend got the job, and a few months later, Olly shared the video online and was amazed by the response and the way it resonated with people.
He said: “I didn't think it was going to be anything more than just like a little video to show my daughter when she's big, but I just realised that there's so much more to it than just who I used to be. It's just about journeys, and everybody has a journey.”
'Complete flip-side'
As far as career changes go, the path from DJ to chef may not seem that obvious. But as Olly explains, there are similarities between the two disciplines. He said: "I 100 per cent feel that they're very aligned. That moment before I put up the radio mic when I used to get into the studio is similar to when you're about to start your first service. It's excitement, it's adrenaline, and there's satisfaction in knowing that you're giving something to somebody that's going to make their day feel better.
“And I think that's why I've slotted so well into this complete, flip-side career because you know that you're entertaining in whatever capacity that is."
With the popularity of podcasting, Olly says he’s considered possibilities for combining his two passions but says that with a toddler to take care of and another baby on the way, he doesn’t have too much time for extra projects at the moment.
But in the future, he hopes to explore bringing his own flavour to the city’s restaurant culture. He said: “We're just busy in the trenches of parenthood and working, but when we do come up for air, eventually, in a few years' time, we'd quite like to explore what we could potentially add to the scene ourselves.”
He won’t divulge what that is but does say: “It's a really good idea. I've been sitting on it for a couple of years. It's something that nobody in Bristol and nobody in the country is offering. I'd love to tell you, but I can't!”
Having been able to build a remarkable new life in spite of the setbacks he’s faced, he reflected on whether or not he missed his old life at all. He said: “I do miss being a radio presenter. But that's just because it was so much a part of my identity. But I'm living that other dream.
“And so, yes, I miss it. I would never lie about that. But there are no regrets because this needed to happen. And if it was going to happen, I'm so pleased it's happening here in Bristol, within the Bianchis group; it's just perfect. I wouldn't want it any other way.”
You can follow Olly on Instagram at @olly_stock and his family's food journey at @house_of_cray.
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