Dr Oliver Runswick is a Senior Lecturer in Performance Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King's College London. Ollie joined King’s in January 2020 to develop modules in performance psychology and expertise for the BSc in Psychology and BSc in Sport and Exercise Medical Sciences courses.

He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Chartered Psychologist, and BASES Accredited Sport and Exercise Scientist. He is also an Associate Editor at the European Journal of Sport Science, Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Sport Sciences, and a member of the Expertise and Skill Acquisition Network’s committee.

Research interests

Ollie is co-lead of the Multidisciplinary Occupational Research for Performance and Health (MORPH Lab) and of the Basic Psychological Science Research Theme. His academic interests focus on applied research under four main themes of exercise and cognition, perceptual-cognitive skill, applied vision, and motor learning and control.

This work is often underpinned by applications of new technology, such as virtual reality, to enhance learning and performance. Ollie applies his work in a variety of domains including sport, education, aerospace, military, and clinical populations and is experienced in delivering consultancy and contract research in these areas.

Ollie currently supervises PhD students working on:

• Applications of virtual reality in sport and exercise
• Virtual reality exergaming for ADHD
• Vision in medical decision making
• Classification in athletes with vision impairment
• Visual exploratory activity in women’s football
• Motivation and cognitive load in learning complex motor skills

Other primary research interests and areas for supervision include:

• Applications of virtual reality in testing and training
• Cognitive training and performance across domains
• Motor learning and control

Teaching

Ollie leads modules on ‘Psychology of Human Performance and Expertise’ and ‘Applied Performance Psychology’ available to both BSc in Psychology students and BSc in Sport and Exercise Medical Sciences students. He also leads the BSc in Psychology placement year and is the programme liaison for Careers & Employability.

Expertise and public engagement

Ollie has worked with a range of external partners including the England and Wales Cricket Board and Premier League. As well as featuring in numerous print outlets and popular podcasts, Ollie has communicated his research on gaze behaviour in cricket batting through media outlets such as BBC Breakfast, BBC iWonder and BBC Test Match Special.