Leicester Tigers have appointed Ollie Richardson to the role of Head of Physical Performance from next season.
Richardson, who spent six seasons with Tigers between 2005-2011, will join Dan McKellar’s coaching team in the summer after two years with Rugby New York.
Prior to America, he previously worked as part of coaching teams in England, Australia, Japan in rugby union and rugby league, as well as mixed martial arts.
Richardson began his career at Tigers in 2004, working as a Strength & Conditioning Coach until 2011 when he moved to the Queensland Reds as Head of Physical Performance.
During his first tenure in Leicester, he was also Strength & Conditioning Coach for England Saxons and, between 2007-2011, he was Head Strength and Conditioning Coach with Team RoughHouse Mixed Martial Arts.
In 2015, he moved to Japanese club Kubota Spears before returning to the United Kingdom as Head of Performance for Super League club, Huddersfield Giants in 2019 and, in 2021, Richardson took on the role as Head of High Performance with Rugby New York.
Discussing the appointment of Richardson, incoming Leicester Tigers Head Coach Dan McKellar said: “I am very pleased to have Ollie as part of the coaching team from next season.”
“It is important to me that there are people in our group who understand what the club is about, what it means to be a part of it and Ollie, who spent a seven years here, is most definitely that.
“In addition to what he knows of Leicester, he returns with a great wealth of experience from around the world in different sports to share with our group. What impresses me most about Ollie is that the most important thing is the rugby; he knows his role is to not just make them fit, fast and robust, but all those things to play rugby.”
Speaking about his appointment ahead of next season, Richardson said: “After talking to Dan [McKellar] about where the squad is, the transformation the club is going through and infrastructure that is being put in place, it was undeniably exciting and something I wanted to be a part of at Leicester Tigers.”
“The opportunity to come back to Tigers, a club that I have worked with before and have a great amount of respect for, was a no brainer for me.
“Anything less than winning at Leicester is unacceptable and I love that mentality. That culture and that mindset is not everywhere; I have been around the world at various organisations and I can tell you, it’s a unique place that I am so excited to again be able to contribute to from next season.
“In conjunction with the rest of the coaching team, I believe my role is to help provide the players the very best platform to play to their potential and express themselves as rugby players and athletes.
“I am confident that with this incredible group of players, we have a lot of exciting times ahead and I am looking forward to being a part of Leicester Tigers again.”
