Built on Craft & Character. About OLLYWOOD, a veteran founded Cardiff shopfitting and joinery company.

OLLYWOOD was founded and is still run by Oli Williams, a former Royal Air Force serviceman who swapped military life for the workshop in 2019. The RAF years left their mark on how the company runs today, from the way projects are planned to the way clients are kept informed. He left with commendations including RAF Junior Chef of the Year and an Air Officer Commanding's Commendation, and that same discipline runs through every fit-out we deliver.

He started the business with nothing. No backers, no grant, no premises. What he had was a reputation for doing exactly what he said he would, and it was enough to win his first contract against two national companies, delivered from his back garden. The client was so impressed that the work has not stopped since. Over seven years and more than 500 projects later, the team now builds for Westfield, the Crown Estate, Live Nation and the BBC.

Before OLLYWOOD, Oli spent years working for and running other people's businesses, and it taught him something he could not shake. Almost everyone tells you yes. Suppliers, salespeople and contractors say what you want to hear, and the project pays for it later in delays, variations and chaos. He built this company on the opposite idea: honesty and trust. If something will not work, he will tell you before you spend the money, because a straight answer early saves everyone a great deal of trouble later.

That approach has taken him into rooms with millionaires, billion-pound company owners and first-time start-ups alike, and every one of them gets the same respect and the same straight talking. Sometimes that means hearing there is a better way to do it, or that a budget will not stretch to the original plan. It is not always the easy conversation, but it is always the honest one, and it is why so many of our clients have stayed with us for years.

He is also deliberately hands-on. Ask for a quote and Oli is usually the person who visits, measures up and manages the job, which is why so many clients ask for him by name. When you call the office, there is a fair chance it is Oli who picks up.

Away from the workshop, Oli co-hosts the Close of Play podcast with Craig Evans. Started in 2023, it is an unfiltered look at business: the wins, the setbacks and the realities of running a company, told with the same straight talking he brings to every project. These days it takes a back seat while the project book stays full, but whenever Craig is free and there is something worth talking about, they get behind the mic again.

And when he does get a minute away from it all, you will usually find him cutting up and splitting logs, then burning them on the log fire at home next to his wife, their kids and the dog.