Major Oliver 'Ollie' Reynolds LLB was born in 1937, commissioned in 1957 into to Somerset LI, later the Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry,  and undertook a secondment to 2 PARA in the early 1960s.

He was particularly notable for his height which then far exceeded the regulations for military parachuting. After Staff College he was posted as GSO2 (Instr) DNBC 1972-5, and after a tour at Regimental duty in the LI, he was appointed DAQMG (Org) 1975-77. His last staff appointment was GSO2 Co-Ord at the NDC .  Following his retirement in 1991 he practised as a solicitor. Ollie sadly died of Parkinson’s disease on the 11 October 2025. Leaving behind his widow, Julia. 

Lt Col. Conn (retired) recalls this about his friend:

"Oliver and I were in the same company in 2 PARA, C Company. He commanded Rodney Platoon, David Herberts had Drake Platoon and when I re-joined as brand-new officer, I was given my old platoon of Nelson. It didn’t take long before we discovered that we had long-distance canoeing as a sport, I had completed the Devizes-Westminster Race twice by then, so I was roped in as his canoe buddy. Ollie had his own folding canoe, a `Cockleshell Heroes’ seagoing boat, assembly was tricky but the weight enormous. It did have a downside for me, being short, every time we lifted the boat, residual shipped water ended up at my end because I was paddling bow, and he was stern. We did it, because giving up is not a paratrooper thing, and then paddled together in the London River Race and the Poole Harbour Race. We never set any outstanding times, but we always finished. This big man with a gentle soul always knew how to handle this ginger-headed, impetuous tear-away, and kept him out of a load of trouble.

I recall our wonderful Company Quartermaster Sergeant, Jimmy Knall, use to tell the tale how when Ollie arrived in C Company, he rejoiced because he could finally issue an oversize pair of boots which had been on his Stores shelves for years. He always would joke with us, here comes the `long and the short’ of the Regiment! I was very sad to see him return to his own Regiment, the Somerset and Cornwall Light Infantry, he had been a great mate and tutor for me…”

Based in information kindly supplied by Lt Col. Walker 'Pat' Conn OBE (Retd)