We are all shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the passing of our colleague and friend Oliver Charity.
Oli completed his PhD investigating Salmonella genome evolution with Rob Kingsley in 2021, before taking up a post-doc position in viromics research with Evelien Adriaenssens group.
Oli was a kind and gentle man, who was always ready to help anyone, and he will be greatly missed by us all.
If you would like to leave a message of condolence or share your memories of Oli, please use the form below. Messages will be collated and added to this page or shared privately if you wish.
Thank you to all of you for your wonderful and heartfelt messages about my gentle, caring, loving, funny and totally original son. They have given Nick and I much comfort and have made us even more proud of him that we already were. I so miss Oli sitting beside me and explaining something very complicated about pathogens or phages in a way his non-scientific parent could understand, and invariably laugh at. As Rob said, he really did make science fun.
We have had a wonderful response to the request for donations to Oli’s fund. Nick and I have decided that Oli would almost certainly want the money to go to sepsis research. It is somewhat ironic that Oli succumbed to a bacterial infection, which induced sepsis, and he would be dismayed that he wasn’t involved in the treatment, and probably livid that he was being pumped full of aggressive antibiotics!
Thank you,
Anne
Such sad news about Oli. He was engaged, funny and caring, and it always was a pleasure to see him at conferences or hear from him. Our joint work led to a joint publication in 2021, which was a great outcome of his early days at IFR.
My condolences to his colleagues, those close to him, and especially to his family. I wish them a lot of strength and hope the good memories will remain. Arnoud van Vliet
Oli was an undergraduate in Leicester and he did his final year project in my lab. Things went really well for him in his final year and he showed a real talent for bench work and developed an excellent ability to undertake research. I also had the honour of being the external examiner for his PhD. He produced some really top-notch work and his performance in the viva was excellent.
I was so sad to hear the awful news. Oli was a pleasure to have in my lab, “a kind and gentle man” is a very apt description of him. His untimely death will be a shock to many and I send my condolences to his friends and family. Prof Julian Ketley, University of Leicester
Oli studied for a PhD as a Norwich Research Park Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership postgraduate student. I was saddened and shocked to hear the news. It was a pleasure to have had the opportunity to get to know him. I share my condolences with his family, friends and all that knew him. Prof Dave Evans, NRPDTP Director, Norwich
Oli was an exceptional person and scientist and made a lasting impression on all who met or worked with him. His enthusiasm was infectious, enriching our research group and making science fun, thanks Oli. His passing has left a huge gap in our lives. He will be missed, and never forgotten. Rob Kingsley
I’m so sad to read the news of Oli’s passing. Oli was so friendly and such pleasant company. A group of us, most who hadn’t met before, gathered for dinner at Microbiology Society last year in Belfast. We had a really fun evening debating acceptable and unacceptable pizza toppings, the best spots in Norwich and of course science. I’ll be very sad not to bump into him at conferences again. What a wonderfully bright, warm man! RIP. Seána Duggan
Absolutely tragic news. A truly engaging and joyful human whom I only recently had the pleasure of meeting. Oliver’s energy and enthusiasm for both science and life were immediately obvious. My deepest condolences to all his family and friends. Greg Young
Oli was a true character, fiercely intelligent and fond of a good pun. We spent several wonderful years together during his PhD and I’ll never forget our time getting square eyes looking at data and chatting about all sorts of nonsense at coffee break. My heartfelt condolences to his family and close friends. Mark Kirkwood
I wish all the best and the strength to Oli’s family and friends, this is awful news.. Francesca Stefanato
Oli was a highly valued member of the Kingsley group, he was a joy to be with and exceptionally intelligent. We met up socially many times over the years for both quizzes and board games.
Myself, and many others, would have loved to attend Oli’s birthday party a few years ago but that was unfortunately cancelled at the last minute due to Coronavirus restrictions. Nevertheless, chats online made it clear to me how liked and appreciated Oli was across the institute. My sincere condolences to his family, being so young this will be particularly heartbreaking.
I am very grateful for the time that I spent with Oli, he leaves a gap in all our lives but our memories of him live on. Martin Lott
My deepest condolecense to Oli’s family and all others close to him. I hardly believe he has left us. Tremendous sorrow has overwhelmed me. Oli was a passionate, inspiring, brilliant, and highly supportive colleague; a warm, gentle, and considerate friend; a reliable, engaged collaborator; and a promissing scientist. Every moment we shared is still vivid in my memory. I cannot accept that the ‘goodbye’ at Leicester Square beomes a forever farewell; I miss the chats with him about his saga in the world of Salmonella phages, his boutique microscope from a weekend adventure, food, and interesting places to visit. He will be much missed. Yu Wan
What a huge loss for the Quadram and Science, the phage world in particular. So sad to hear this, my heart goes out to all colleagues in this difficult time and his loved ones. You will be missed Oli. Mohammad Adnan Tariq
I met Oli when working in Quadram in 2016/18. He was always a happy face around the place. So sad to hear this news. My condolences to his family. Ian O’Neill
I’m so glad I get to say that you were my best friend and in the time that I knew you you made an enormous impact in my life. Thankyou for being always being your amazing loving-self Oli the memories will always live on . I love you brother x Warren b
Very sad to hear about the loss of our dear colleague, Dr Oliver Charity, at such a young age. He was courteous, considerate and intelligent. Not only is he a tragic loss to those who know and love him, but also a great loss to science and humanity. Rest in peace, Gentleman Oli. Keith Turner
Oliver joined my group at the end of 2021 and he was an immediate positive influence. He was so helpful to everyone, and always had great ideas to share. It would happen often that someone would come to me with a new bit of analysis they did or new skill they learned and would say “oh, Oli taught me”. In his own work, he was brilliant and creative, and I can’t imagine what the world is missing out on without him.
Oli was caring, kind, but also immensely funny. Life will never be the same without him. We miss you… Evelien Adriaenssens
I was a peer with Oli at the same time as doing our PhDs. Oli was incredibly smart and was always willing to help anyone out without a second thought. I’ve learnt a lot from Oli and his research, and there’s no doubt he’s made a big impact on the scientific community. Oli brought so much joy to occasions and was very funny! I’m honoured to have worked beside Oli, he will never be forgotten, and I’m sure his research will be referenced for years to come.
This is incredibly sad and hard to believe it is true. I first knew Oli when I lectured him, and even as an undergraduate he once emailed me very apologetically to say he would have to miss just one of my lectures as he wanted to see his grandmother on her birthday. It was really nice to reconnect with him more recently and see what he had done and was currently doing, it was lovely to host him and get his insights in to what we are doing as well as talk with him about his work as we worked on a joint project….. he thought about things really interestingly and asked good questions and I could see him doing great things in the future. It was lovely to see him recently at the UK VoM meeting in Newcastle and he seemed so happy we sat near each other exchanging some thoughts on some of the talks. I shall remember him as that person and I think it is a very sad loss for science especially phage science where he was putting his energy within his nice team at the Quadram Institute. Martha Clokie
This is heartbreaking news. I have played many a game of mansions of madness with Oli and thank him for introducing me to the game. It was always a fun night and I have fond memories that I will hold dear. My condolences to his family and friends. Zoe
Oli was such a kind and gentle soul. He made me feel so welcome when I joined the Kingsley lab in 2016 for my postdoc, which I will never forget. This is truly heartbreaking, I send my deepest sympathies to his family and friends. Jennifer Tanner
Oli was one of the first people I met when I came to Quadram. He was welcoming and friendly and it was always good to bump into him around the place and have a little chat. I will miss seeing him around the place. James Lazenby
We share in Quadram’s sense of shock and sadness, and would like to convey our condolences to those closest to him .
Oli joined Imperial College after finishing his PhD, on the ‘AMRWatch’ project to seek out evidence of antimicrobial resistance in the environment, related to pharmaceutical manufacturing waste with colleagues in India. Despite much of the work being online, Oli clearly connected with everyone, as shown by the genuine sense of shock and loss that they feel now- including colleagues as far away as Pondicherry. I have passed on those personal messages to Oli’s family and would add that I greatly valued Oli’s real sense of enthusiasm about bacterial genetics and biology. Of course his fascination with phages meant we inevitably persuaded him to get involved with group A streptococcal genetic studies as well, and I very much hope we can do that work justice, in his memory. Shiranee Sriskandan, Imperial College London
I am deeply saddened by this news. Oli joined our team to cover my maternity leave and despite the low overlap of our jobs, Oli became a friendly face. He always asked about my parenting journey and shared some of his stories with me. I will remember our work discussions and miss his messages just to check on us. My condolences to his friends and family, specially the little men, that will miss him forever. Ana Vieira
It’s a very sad news to hear that Oli passed away. I met Oli when I was a post-doctoral researcher in Rob Kingsley’s lab. We shared our days at lab and my time in Rob’s group was one of my best in my life. Thanks to the Science of course, but also thanks to my great colleagues and to the atmosphere in the team and at IFR. Oli was in the team and I appreciated to be around this very gentle man, with a sense of humour that we shared. Also, talking about science with him was always a very good time as Oli was a very smart person. He’ll be missed a lot and I’ll never forget him…
I’d like to send my sincere condolences to his close colleagues and his family, and espacially his young son… Priscilla Branchu
Like everyone, I was shocked and saddened to hear of Oli’s untimely death. He was a young man with talents and a great sense of fun. Sometimes in life you meet somebody you instantly get on with…Oli was one of those folks. Proud to have known him. My thoughts go out to his family. Bruce Pearson
It is so sad that Oli is no longer here with us. I loved seeing his big smile and very much enjoyed the times we interacted when our paths crossed at work and also socially. It was fantastic to see him successfully complete his PhD studies and go on to become a postdoc with Evelien. He was a clever man with a passion for his research, a great combination. He was also a loving and proud Dad. It is shocking to think about him being so young and with so much more to give to the world and having this taken away in the way it was. I will miss Oli. My condolences to his family and close friends. Paul Kroon
Oli was a kind, compassionate, and lively person who will be missed. If I think about Oli, I remember him during mansions of madness after he had invited me over so I could experience an ‘English BBQ’. As always, he was quick to make a joke and ready to giggle. He made the world a happier and kinder place. Anne Verkerk
So sad to lose someone so young. I was privileged to teach Oli through GCSE and A Levels. I have been delighted to see him progress so well in his career. This is a very sad loss indeed. My condolences to all his friends and colleagues. Mari Mason Retired Head of Chemistry The Skinners’ School
Oli was in my PhD cohort, and such a lovely guy. Kind hearted, a wonderful sense of humour, silly yet serious. Many a discussion about PowerPoint pig schematics too. Sad to hear this, and my thoughts and prayers are with his family at this terrible time. Liz Chapman
