Jeremy Olivier music career started in his small home town, Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe, where his passion for guitar catapulted him into a gigging rock band, touring the country from the age of 14.
After completing his A-Levels in Harare, Jeremy decided to further pursue music and he moved to Cape Town, where he obtained a BMus Honours in Jazz Performance from UCT’s College of Music.
Now, well established as a guitarist and vocalist in South Africa, Jeremy Olivier has performed with some great international artists such as George Benson, Katherine Jenkins, Jonathan Butler and Daniel Bedingfield.
Jeremy Olivier has also shared the stage with some of South Africa’s finest musicians and artists, including Danny K, Loyiso Bala, Sibongile Khumalo, GoodLuck, Judith Sephuma, Ard Matthews, Arno Carstens, FreshlyGround, Mango Groove, Jimmy Nevis and Johnny Clegg.
He has performed all over South Africa, as well as in Germany, Switzerland, Holland and Dubai at various shows, festivals and concerts.
In February 2012, he released his first single, ‘Serendipity’ to radio which became an instant hit and introduced him as an artist to the radio-listening public.
Jeremy Olivier then went on to record a four track E.P. and he released a further two singles, ‘It’s My Time’ and ‘What About Now’ from that E.P., both receiving the same enthusiastic response from deejays and the public alike. ‘Serendipity’ charted at # 6 on Heart 104.9’s SA Top 10 and ‘It’s My Time’ charted at # 21 on Radio Heidelberg’s Top 30 and at # 2 on Bush Radio.
All three songs were also picked up by Mood media and are now playing in the USA on the DMX Acoustic Chill channel as well as in retail stores throughout Northern America.
In February 2013, Jeremy released his fourth single, ‘Look at us Now’ to radio and he started working on completing his debut album.
In November 2013, ‘It’s My Time’ and ‘Breathing Underwater’ were chosen as the theme songs for two international ads for Huntington Beach Sun Foams.
August 2014 marked the release of Jeremy’s fifth single, ‘Beautiful’ – a heart-warming song about his adopted son who was abandoned at birth.
The song and the music video are currently being used by UNICEF SA to raise awareness for a new campaign that they are running: Ending Violence Against Children (#endviolence) and Jeremy was asked to become a Celebrity Advocate for UNICEF South Africa.
In June 2015, Jeremy Olivier was nominated for a Wawela Award for Best Male Artist and Composer for his debut album alongside Elvis Blue and Mandoza.
Jeremy’s sixth single, ‘Can’t Help Myself’ – a funky, up-tempo, Afro-Pop track that combines Jeremy’s signature sound with his Zimbabwean roots – was released to radio in March 2015 and climbed the Top 40 charts on Cape Town’s Heart 104.9.
Jeremy Olivier often travels to Holland for tours where the response to his music has been overwhelming and many opportunities are opening up on the horizon.
In addition to performing, Jeremy also regularly composes and arranges the musical score for Sunrise Productions ‘Jungle Beat’ animated series (showing worldwide on Cartoon Network, RAI, Canal +, Al Jazeera etc.)
He has written an arranged the theme song for the new SA Rugby mascot, ‘Bokkie’ as well as ‘Sharkie’ for the Sharks Ruby Team.
In 2008, he wrote and co-wrote the original songs, ‘Free Free’ and ‘Sweet Love’ for an international animated movie, ‘The Lion of Judah’ which was released in the US in June 2011.
In 2016, Jeremy Olivier took his talent to live TV on the very first season of The Voice SA. He won the hearts of the viewers and went right to the finale finishing as the winning contestant in Team Lira and achieving his spot in the final top four.
He also won the attention of his music idol, Oliver Mtukudzi, after singing a rendition of his song, ‘Neria’ on the show and there are plans to work together in the future.
