At 20 years old, most people are figuring out what they want to do with their lives. Oliver Blackburn is figuring it out while travelling across Europe, building finish lines at the Tour de France and working live sporting events around the world with ADI.
From LIV Golf Singapore to a second consecutive summer on the Tour de France, Ollie’s passport is filling up far quicker than he ever expected. Just a couple of years ago, he was working in a local sandwich shop – now, the 20-year-old is spending weeks at a time working behind the scenes on some of the world’s biggest sporting events.
From the warehouse to world events
While many of his friends went off to university, Ollie instead joined ADI as a Warehouse Operative in October 2024, beginning his career by learning and maintaining LED equipment at the company’s Preston facility. Less than two years later, he’s already stepped into international event delivery with a path to becoming an LED technician.
Last year I had the Tour de France and that was my first time actually going out on a job, to be honest with you. Before that, I didn’t really leave unless it was for an all-inclusive holiday with my family, so going out to France for a full month was completely different. This year I’ll be back in France again across July, and it’ll be back-to-back days all the way through to the final event in Paris.”
Learning on the road
For someone who admits he had “no experience” when he joined the business, the pace of progression has surprised even him. Alongside UK events and technical trips to Belgium, Ollie was recently part of ADI’s delivery team at LIV Golf Singapore – an experience he now describes as his favourite event so far.
When I went to Singapore, I didn’t know a single person, so I was bricking it. But when I got there everyone was sound, really helped me out and gave me the confidence to do my job. Being in a different country surrounded by a different culture and backed by people I get on really well with – Singapore was definitely my favourite event so far.”
back at the tour de france
Back in Europe this summer, Ollie will once again join ADI’s month-long Tour de France delivery, helping operate finish-line infrastructure,
mobile LED screens, Chronopole & Protocole systems along the race route before the famous finish on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Working alongside long-term partner Amaury Sport Organisation, ADI delivers sports presentation solutions to support the tour, from hype content, stage coordination and ceremonies to encapsulate the spirit of the world’s most iconic cycling race.
Beyond the finish line, Ollie’s wider team will be orchestrating connectivity, content and multi-country logistics across each racing stage in Spain, France and Switzerland.
I’m working on the finish line, and it’s a lot of running fibre, setting everything up and just making sure everything is smoothly operating, The Chronopole is the structure the riders go under at the finish, with the LED above it, so that’s what we’re building and managing. The task at hand is about maintaining it, making changes if needed and making sure everything is working exactly how it should every single day."
More Than Just a Summer Job
But for the 20-year-old, there is only one notable downside to spending his July in France – especially for a self-confessed football fanatic.
“I’m a massive football fan and when my mates came back from uni they were all talking about going to the pub garden to watch the games,” he said. “That’s when the penny dropped – I might miss the entire World Cup because I’ll be out in France! But that’s just part of the job – you’re focussed working while everything else is going on, and you’ve got to take that with it.”
Still, missing a few football matches feels like a fair trade-off for a 20-year-old now travelling the world through work.
“At the end of the day, I’m 20 years old and getting paid to work on the Tour de France or to go to Singapore,” Ollie smiled. “I’ve always wanted to go travelling. A couple of years ago I was working in a sandwich shop, so to go from that to travelling and working on events like this is a massive change. I can see the progression, going from the warehouse and becoming an LED technician. It’s one of those opportunities where you’ve got to take it and see where it leads.”
