Ollie Silverton Lands Ultimate Sports & Entertainment Apprenticeship

An aspiring sports marketing professional has won a dream job to travel around the world working at the biggest events such as the Olympic Games, Super Bowl and the Sundance Film Festival.

Ollie Silverton is the winner of the Ultimate Sports and Entertainment Apprenticeship, by GMR Marketing, after successfully passing a six week application process that culminated in a 24 hour challenge at the Rugby World Cup final last month.

Starting in Sydney at the Extreme Sailing Series in December, the 23 year old will travel around the world reporting on the top sports and entertainment events for the industry’s leading agency.

Among other events, Ollie will fly to California for Super Bowl 50, work behind-the-scenes in Paris for the 2016 UEFA European Championships, mix with Hollywood stars on the red carpet at the Sundance Film Festival and report on the ground at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Conceived by GMR Marketing, in collaboration with SportBusiness Group, the apprenticeship will provide Ollie with ten years’ experience in 12 months, whilst providing the next generation of sports marketers and the industry at large with enlightening insights.

Commenting on his success, Ollie said: “This job is simply unbelievable, it combines quite literally every passion of mine with a mix of sport, travel, marketing, writing and presenting. I can’t tell you how many messages I’ve had from friends who are delighted for me but also a bit jealous.”

The selection process was rigorous with a range of challenges judged by a panel of experts from GMR Marketing, SportBusiness Group and the Youth Sport Trust.

Charlie Dundas, Director of Business Development at GMR Marketing believes the process was extremely challenging for the contestants but was vital in finding the right candidate.

“Each challenge we set brought out different strengths and weaknesses in the contestants. During the online vote, Ollie showed great creativity and character by producing extra tongue in cheek videos in different formats. In just over a week, two of the videos received 25,000 views with hundreds of shares.”

Ollie begins his apprenticeship with a media training week with SportBusiness Group, where he will be spending time with the ATP and LTA at the World Tour Finals at London’s O2 arena.

Phil Chamberlain, Director of External Relations at the Youth Sport Trust, said 'Ollie showed real drive and determination through this challenging process. He showed a real flare for being creative, but demonstrated a confident and practical approach to the tasks set. I am convinced he will thrive in this exciting role, bringing real energy and focus, which will benefit the GMR team. I wish him every success in this role.'