We are immensely proud of our Old Oundelians and the remarkable ways they continue to reflect the values instilled in them at Oundle through their character, principles, and professional journeys. We are lucky to have such a breadth of talent and ambition within the OO Network which serves as a source of inspiration for current and future Oundelians alike.
James began rowing in his final year at Oundle School and went on to develop his talent at Newcastle University, before joining the prestigious Leander Club, serving as vice-captain from 2020 to 2022.
Selected for the British Rowing Senior Squad in 2023 and 2024, Robson was a reserve for Team GB at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In 2022, he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (AF) after noticing an unusually high heart rate during training. Since then, he has raised awareness of managing AF while competing at an elite level, and has advocated for pre-training cardiac screening and early detection in sport.
In 2025, Robson rowed in the six seat for Cambridge in the Boat Race, helping secure a second consecutive victory over Oxford. He went on to win gold in the men’s coxless four at the 2025 World Rowing Championships in Shanghai.
Alongside training in the national team, Robson has an MBA from Cambridge and works in sports investment.
Rachel was the first female to be awarded the Grocers’ Scholarship at Oundle School. After Oundle, she went on to study Graphic Design at Camberwell College of Arts where she picked up a video-camera for the first time. Having realised that the camera gave you power to strike up conversations with strangers, she began directing self-shot single films.
Since then, Rachel has worked on a wide range of high-profile documentaries for major UK and US broadcasters and streamers including the BBC, Channel 4, PBS and Apple.
She has filmed with well-known faces such as The Osbournes, Stacey Dooley and Nick Clegg. She has also worked on award-winning series such as BBC2’s ‘Hospital’, ‘SAS: Who Dares Wins’ and ‘One Born Every Minute’ on Channel 4.
Most recently, Rachel has series directed BBC2's 'Girlbands Forever' described as ‘A thrillingly gobby slice of must-watch TV’ (The Guardian).
She is passionate about supporting female directors in TV and helps manage We Are Doc Women, a voluntary organisation which offers them peer support, mentoring and other professional development opportunities.
Kate is a bestselling author of historical romance, whose books include her Regency-set Secrets & Spies series, Bow Street Bachelors series, Ruthless Rivals series, and Her Majesty’s Rebels series.
Kate’s first book was written in response to a £1 bet with her husband who claimed she’d ‘never finish the thing' led to her being published by Penguin Random House in 2016. Since then, Kate has published sixteen more books which have received numerous awards and have been translated into multiple languages.
As well as an accomplished author, Kate is also a fine art appraiser and has appeared as an on-screen antiques expert for several UK TV shows, including Bargain Hunt, Flog it! and Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is. She is a director and valuer at her family's auction house, Batemans, in Stamford, Lincolnshire.
Kate is married to fellow OO Matthew, and they have three children. Having lived in the USA for a number of years, the family has recently returned to Oundle.
While at Oundle, David designed and acted in school plays (notably as Miss Prism in The Importance of Being Earnest), wrote for and acted in revues and directed/designed Pinter’s The Caretaker and Brecht’s Mother Courage for the Drama Club. He has been writing plays professionally since 1971, and is the Royal Shakespeare Company’s most produced living playwright.
David has written more than sixty plays for RSC, the National Theatre, as well as the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and most recently for the Orange Tree in Richmond. As well as plays for television and radio, David also writes regularly for The Guardian, the London Review of Books and other periodicals. He is a past President of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain and founded Britain's first graduate playwriting course, at the University of Birmingham.
Jules is an entrepreneur, motivational speaker, philanthropist, businessman and explorer.
In 2007 while in the midst of selling his management consultancy business, he was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer that required surgery on his brain. Having overcome the odds of survival (1 in 5) he was offered the opportunity to climb Everest.
In 2015 Jules was at Base Camp on Everest when the catastrophic earthquake that devastated Nepal and killed almost 9,000 people hit. With a 1 in 60 chance of survival Jules overcame the odds again and not only survived but stayed on the mountain to help others.
He returned in 2016 to finally summit Everest and his first book 'Aftershock. The quake on Everest and One Mans Quest and the Quake' tells the story of his journey.
In 2017 Jules was offered the opportunity for a new adventure, flying a helicopter 4,000 miles from Canada to Guernsey. His latest book ‘Arctic Insanity’ was released on 10 July 2025. All proceeds for both books go to the Mountain Cancer Care Charity, whose objective is to fund equipment for the early detection of cancer.
Benji is a Consultant Psychiatrist, award-winning comedian, and Sunday Times best-selling author. He studied Medicine at the University of Leeds, also graduating with a First-Class Honours degree in Medical Ethics, before beginning his career in the NHS. He has a special interest in psychedelics and contributed to the landmark psilocybin (magic mushroom) study featured in the BBC documentary The Psychedelic Drug Trial.
His debut memoir, You Don’t Have to Be Mad to Work Here: A Psychiatrist’s Life, was The Times Book of the Week, received a five-star review from The Telegraph and was described by The Guardian as “humane, hilarious and eye-opening”. He is also a regular media commentator on mental health, appearing on Sky News, Channel 5, and across numerous podcasts and radio programmes.
In August 2025, Benji performed his latest comedy show Maddening at the Edinburgh Festival, which was among the best-reviewed shows of the Fringe according to the British Comedy Guide (“muscling in on the Adam Kay market”, The Times).
He lives in London, where he continues to work part-time as a Consultant Psychiatrist, and is currently adapting his book for television with BBC Studios-owned House Productions.
Alice is an accomplished mechanical engineer (CEng FIMechE, MSc, FIMechE, CMgr MCMI, APMP) with over 20 years of experience solving complex challenges in pharma and biotech manufacturing.
In 2020, she led the ramp-up of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine production, delivering 16 million doses per month in record time under unprecedented global scrutiny. Her mission is to use her expertise to deliver engineering innovations to combat the world’s deadliest diseases and improve public health. She believes every problem has a solution and that it’s about applying the right expertise, creativity and strategic thinking to find it.
To commemorate National Engineering Day 2024, Alice was the subject for the UK’s first statue of a living engineer, initially located outside the Royal Academy of Engineering’s building, followed by a tour to the Edinburgh Science Festival and other UK locations, as a testament to Alice’s contributions and the profession’s critical role in society.
