Oli Frey

For other people of the same name, see Oliver Frey (disambiguation).

Oli Frey
Born	Oliver Frey 30 June 1948 (1948-06-30) (age 63) Zurich, Switzerland
Nationality	British
Area(s)	Artist

Oliver "Oli" Frey is a magazine illustrator and artist who worked on comic strips in the 1970s and 1980s.

Biography

Frey was born in Zurich, Switzerland on 30 June 1948. He grew up fluent in Italian and German. His family moved to Britain in 1956 but subsequently returned to Switzerland.^[1]

During his high school years in Switzerland, Frey followed an American correspondence course called The Famous Artists.^{[citation needed]}

After spending six months in the Swiss army, and dropping out of Berne University, Frey moved to Britain once again and started a two-year course at the London Film School during which he supported himself with freelance work, including drawing historical illustrations for the War Picture Library.

As a child Frey loved The Eagle comic, and as an adult was able to fulfil his childhood dream^[1] by working on the revived version, drawing the strip Dan Dare. Also during the 1970s, he illustrated for IPC Media's Look and Learn magazine, including the strip The Trigan Empire.

When his brother Franco founded the computer magazine CRASH in 1983, together with Roger Kean, Oli became the magazine's illustrator.^[2] He also illustrated CRASH's sister magazines Zzap!64, Amtix and The Games Machine.

Through the late 1970s and the 1980s Frey was a prolific creator of gay erotic art including a series of a Tom of Finland-style bad-boy hero named "Rogue" for Him Magazine, and has produced, edited and illustrated several issues of Man-to-Man Magazine. Since the late 90s, Frey has been working as publishing director for Thalamus Publishing in Shropshire, which specializes in illustrated historical reference titles.

Classic video gaming magazine Retro Gamer has featured Frey's artwork on its cover.

Bibliography

• Dan Dare:
  • "Return of the Mekon" (in Eagle #17-18, 1982)
  • "Belendotor" (in Eagle #84-83, 1983)

• Roger Kean: The Fantasy Art of Oliver Frey (Thalamus Publishing, 2006), ISBN 1-902886-06-2

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Roger Kean: The Fantasy Art of Oliver Frey (Thalamus Publishing, 2006), ISBN 978-1902886060
2. ^ History of CRASH magazine

References

• 2000 AD profile

External links

• Look and Learn search for Oliver Frey
• A site featuring Frey's erotic artwork

Persondata
Name	Frey, Oli
Alternative names	Frey, Oliver
Short description	Swiss comic strip artist
Date of birth	30 June 1948
Place of birth	Zurich
Date of death
Place of death