| Birth Name: | Oliver Mayer |
| Birth Date: | 9 September 1993 |
| Birth Place: | Reading, Berkshire, England |
| Family: | Jeffery Dench (grandfather) Judi Dench (great aunt) |
| Years Active: | 2013–present |
Oliver Mayer (born 9 September 1993), known professionally as Oliver Dench, is an English actor and theatre maker. He is co-founding artistic director of the Revolve Theatre Company. On television, he is known for his roles in the CW series Pandora (2019–2020) and the BritBox period drama Hotel Portofino (2022–).
Dench was born in Reading. His maternal grandfather was Jeffery Dench, actor and brother of Judi Dench.[1] He attended Gillotts School[2] and the Henley College.[3] [4] Dench has said he was "obsessed with Shakespeare as a child thanks to my granddad".[5]
In 2014, Dench formed the Henley-on-Thames-based Revolve Theatre Company with Joe Morris and Tom Smith. Their debut show at the Henley Fringe Festival was Dench in a one-man version of Hamlet playing all fifteen roles.[6]
Dench made his television debut in 2016 as Will Palmerston in the Canadian YTV series Ride about an equestrian school in England.[7] He made his London stage debut in School Play at Southwark Playhouse in 2017.[8] [9] He appeared in the 2018 Sky Kids series The Athena.
In 2019, Dench began starring in the CW science fiction series Pandora as Xander Duvall, a role he would play for both seasons.[10] He played Iullus in the first season of Domina before the role was taken over by Joseph Ollman. As of 2022, Dench stars as Lucian Ainsworth in the period drama Hotel Portofino.[11] He starred as Cliff in the Paris revival of Cabaret that December at Le Lido on the Champs-Élysées.[12]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | One Night at the Aristo | Bartender | Short film |
| 2018 | Technology | Orphan | |
| Lifeline | Voice | Short film | |
| TBA | Queen of the Redwood Mountains | ||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–2017 | Ride | Will Palmerston | Main role |
| 2018–2019 | The Athena | Sam Warner | Main role |
| 2019 | Noughts + Crosses | Anthony | 1 episode |
| 2019–2020 | Pandora | Xander Duvall | Main role |
| 2021 | Domina | Iullus | 2 episodes |
| Whitstable Pearl | Max Azarov | Episode: "The Free Waters" | |
| 2022–present | Hotel Portofino | Lucian Ainsworth | Main role |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | A Christmas Carol | Young Scrooge | Reading Repertory Theatre |
| 2013 | Romeo and Juliet | Paris | Reading Minster |
| 2014 | One Man Hamlet | Various | Henley Fringe Festival |
| The Witch of Edmonton | Morris | Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon / Royal Shakespeare Company | |
| 2015 | Much Ado About Nothing | Borachio | St James's Church, Reading |
| Romeo and Juliet | Romeo | The Boater, Bath | |
| 2017 | School Play | Tom | Southwark Playhouse, London |
| 2022 | Cabaret | Cliff | Le Lido, Paris |