Ollie Odebunmi.

An epic fantasy author, somewhat…different from the norm.

Ollie Odebunmi was born in London of Nigerian parents
After returning to Nigeria as a boy with his parents, he grew up surrounded by books for his father was an ardent believer in reading to broaden the mind.

His favourite lessons at school were English literature and History, and he discovered he had a knack for writing when his essays consistently scored high marks.

However, he occasionally got carried away with a tendency to show off.

Writing a short story, he tried to be a wise-ass and wrote: “…laughed psychedelically.” He meant to say sarcastically. He ended up feeling rather foolish when his English teacher took him to task before the whole class.

Getting bored with the encyclopedias and history books his father insisted upon, he soon discovered the world of Marvel comics and superheroes such as Thor, the Avengers, the X-men, the Fantastic 4 and the Incredible Hulk. Then came the works of fantasy and high-adventure authors such as Edgar Rice Burrows (Tarzan) and Robert E Howard (Conan and King Kull)

In 1971, his interest in boxing was sparked by the rivalry between Muhammad Ali and Smokin’ Joe Frazier. But unlike most who idolized Ali, it was the squat, no-nonsense bull-dozing Frazier who appealed to him.

Between the ages of 14 and 19, he was consumed by boxing, super-heroes and fantasy adventures, and upon returning to England at 20, developed a great interest in fitness and muscle building.

His subsequent career path reflected his interests.

He established a fitness business and operated two gyms, and in later years wrote fitness articles for websites such as livestrong.com, ehow.com, azCentral.com, and woman.thenest.com

The writing bug re-aawkened, he wrote his first book, the well-received the Last Great Heavyweights-From Ali and Frazier to Lewis and Tyson.

But there was always the rather daunting idea of writing fiction – naturally epic fantasy – a far more difficult task than a factual story.

After numerous false starts, Verge of Darkness came into being, and as the story and characters developed, it was broadened into a five-book series titled the Threads of Fate.