Oli Hayhurst grew up in Cambridge playing clarinet, then guitar and bass guitar on the local music scene. After a failed attempt at a Physics degree he took up double bass and moved to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music. During his degree he worked with Cara Dillon and Sam Lakeman.   Since graduating in 2000 he has worked in a wide range of musical fields. He played with Gilad Atzmon and was a founder member of the Orient House ensemble, playing on their first two records for Enja and touring extensively in the UK and Europe.

He played in Tim Whitehead’s quartet  and with Polly Paulusma in 2004 he toured Europe opening for Bob Dylan. In 2006 he was featured on Zoe Rahman’s Mercury nominated album, ‘Melting Pot’ which also won the Best Album award in the 2006 Parliamentary Jazz Awards.
The Zoe Rahman Trio have since played at festivals all over Europe. In 2006-2007 he played in Parallelogram, a unique collaboration of Jazz and Folk musicians featuring Lau, Acoustic Ladyland’s Pete Wareham and Flook’s Brian Finnegan. 2007 also saw a trip to Syria with Reem Kelani playing in Damascus and Aleppo with local musicians.

As a menber of Ray Gelato’s Giants since 2008 he has played all over Europe, North Africa and Brazil and held regular residencies at Ronnie Scott’s in London and The Blue Note in Milan. In 2009 Sam Crockatt’s album ‘Howeird’ also won Best Album at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards.
In 2011 he was featured on Julian Siegel’s album ‘Urban Theme Park’ and toured Germany with his quartet. He has taught jazz double bass at the Purcell School since 2003.