Oliver Tompsett

Oliver Tompsett is a British actor and singer born on 25 August 1981 in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. His father, John, worked as both an engineer and opera singer, while his mother, Judy, ran a dance studio. He has an older brother, Ben, a musician, and a sister, Amy. Tompsett attended John Mason School and was a member of the Oxfordshire Youth Music Theatre, where he performed in youth productions of Me and My Girl, Godspell, and Anne of Green Gables. He later trained at Arts Educational School, where he played Tony in West Side Story.

Tompsett made his professional and West End debut in 2002 in Our House, the Madness and Tim Firth musical directed by Matthew Warchus at London's Cambridge Theatre. Subsequent London stage work included Mamma Mia! at the Prince of Wales Theatre, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, and the role of Caliph in Kismet, directed by Tiffany Watt-Smith at the Arcola Theatre. He also appeared as Harry Lytton in Richard Stirling's Over My Shoulder: The Story of Jessie Matthews, directed by Stewart Nicholls at Wyndham's Theatre. In 2006, immediately before joining the cast of Wicked, he appeared in Trevor Nunn's production of Peter Shaffer's The Royal Hunt of the Sun at the National Theatre.

Tompsett joined the West End production of Wicked in 2006, initially performing in the ensemble and understudying the role of Fiyero before replacing Adam Garcia in 2007. He remained with the production for three and a half years, playing his final performance in 2010, after which Lewis Bradley succeeded him in the role. In 2011, he originated the role of Drew Boley in the West End production of Rock of Ages, earning a WhatsOnStage Theatregoers' Choice Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. The following year, he replaced Noel Sullivan as Galileo in We Will Rock You, a performance that brought him a WhatsOnStage nomination for Best Take Over in a Role.

From November 2014 to 24 January 2015, Tompsett played Phil Davis in White Christmas alongside Darren Day in Leeds. From 16 March to 14 August 2016, he played Sky Masterson in the West End revival of Guys and Dolls at the Phoenix Theatre, and subsequently reprised the role for the Israeli premiere of the production at the Opera House in Tel Aviv for ten performances.

In 2019, Tompsett originated the role of William Shakespeare in & Juliet. The world premiere opened at the Manchester Opera House on 10 September 2019 and closed on 12 October 2019, before the production transferred to the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, where it began performances on 2 November 2019. His performance earned him a nomination for Best Actor in a Musical at the 2020 WhatsOnStage Awards. Tompsett remained with the production for its entire West End run, which closed on 25 March 2023. He subsequently reprised the role on Broadway, stepping in before Drew Gehling after original cast member Stark Sands departed. His Broadway association with the production followed an earlier Broadway appearance in 2022 in the play Julie.

On 4 April 2023, Tompsett took over the role of Edward Lewis in the West End production of Pretty Woman, remaining with the show through its closing on 18 June 2023. It was announced on 18 May 2023 that he would star in the musical In Dreams, beginning performances at Leeds Playhouse on 3 July 2023. On 11 February 2025, it was announced that Tompsett would play Count Adhemar in A Knight's Tale, a musical adaptation of the 2001 film, opening at Manchester Opera House with an anticipated West End transfer. He is also set to star as P.T. Barnum in the world premiere of The Greatest Showman, a musical based on the 2017 film, at Bristol Hippodrome in 2026.

In 2008, Tompsett recorded a song for Act One – Songs from the Musicals of Alexander S. Bermange, released on Dress Circle Records. Later that year, he released his debut solo album, Sentimental Heart, with all songs written, performed, and produced by Tompsett himself. In 2009, he recorded the song We Are Not Alone for Terry Pratchett's Only You Can Save Mankind, released on 23 November 2009. In May 2010, Tompsett announced he had signed a record deal with Warner Brothers, and his second album followed in 2011.

Tompsett met actress Michelle Potter in 2003 while both were performing in the West End production of Mamma Mia!, and the two later married. They have two children: a son, George, born in 2013, and a daughter, Kaia, born in February 2017. In 2022, Tompsett ran in a London charity marathon in support of Parkinson's disease research.