Oliver

When we filmed Oliver at the age of 14, he was back at home, on holidays from his education as a boarder at Eton. As well as being talented academically, Oliver became seriously involved in rowing whilst at school, and the sport had taken him to the USA for competition. There, he’d come to the attention of Yale University who offered him a place if he achieved the stringent Ivy League entrance scores.

At 21, we catch up with him in New Haven, Connecticut, in his final year as a Yale student, contemplating his future.

We’ve seen you aged seven and 14 – but where are you now?

"I’ve just completed (May 2014) my bachelor’s degree at Yale University in the United States, and am on the verge of beginning a two year Master of Philosophy degree at Oxford University."

Are you following the path you imagined for yourself when you were those ages?

"In a somewhat depressing demonstration of conformity, I’ve done more or less what I expected. That’s not to say that I haven’t mostly enjoyed what I have been up to. I suppose going to America for university was not something that I’d necessarily foreseen, but from a wider perspective I’m not sure it’s a radical departure from what the 14-year-old me was imagining. Hopefully that’s not too hideously self-satisfied."

And how have your relationships changed?

"In terms of my relationship with my parents, not a lot has changed. We still get on really well and although I’m now an adult and the topics and sophistication of our interactions and conversations have evolved, it’s still a very good relationship."

"Friends have changed radically; I’m still in meaningful contact with only a small handful of people from the time of the last programme [14 Up 2000]. That being said, I don’t expect the same to be said in seven years time of the friends I have now, especially those associated with rowing and university. My groups of friends from both of those areas are really tightly bonded and that’s something that I really enjoy."

"A few girlfriends have come and gone, and the relationships have become increasingly complex, as you would expect. At the moment I’m not involved with anyone though."

Looking back to those ages, what advice would you give yourself?

"I don’t particularly have any one piece of advice because that assumes that I have regrets and would have done things differently had I had the chance, which I don’t think is true. If I were to say ‘have more confidence in yourself’, I think that makes light of both the journey of understanding yourself and thereby growing in self-awareness, as well as being artificial in the sense that I think that I’m now stronger and better off for having had the learning and growing experience of past years."

Are there any moments you look back on and think ‘perhaps I would have done that differently’?

"Fundamentally not really. In both of my significant relationships I could have handled things better in some regards, but I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on making the mistakes and thus not have learned from them. Maybe I’m just being too facetious and not answering the question properly!"

Where should we expect to find you when Up returns in seven years' time?

Don’t ‘expect’ to find me anywhere in particular! Words like ‘passionate’ and ‘happiness’ are bandied around all the time and of course everyone wants to be happy in their personal life and work in an industry they find compelling and satisfying. I suppose being married wouldn’t be a ridiculous stretch, but kids are definitely not on the radar for the next seven years at least."