Olivia Dean

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Olivia Lauryn Dean (born 14 March 1999) is an English singer and songwriter.

Olivia Lauryn Dean was born on March 14, 1999, in the London Borough of Haringey. Her father is English and her mother is of Jamaican and Guyanese descent. Her maternal grandmother emigrated to the United Kingdom from Guyana at age 18 as part of the Windrush generation.[6] She was "quite young" when she gave birth to Dean's mother.Dean received her middle name, "Lauryn", because her mother was a fan of American singer Lauryn Hill. She has a younger brother.Actor Ashley Walters, who was a rapper in So Solid Crew, is her cousin.

Dean grew up in Highams Park and has said she sometimes "felt quite 'other'" for being mixed-race. Her father often listened to music and they would dance around the kitchen together. Her mother, a barrister, introduced her to the music of Jill Scott, Angie Stone, and Lauryn Hill, while her father introduced her to the music of Carole King and Al Green. One of the first CDs that she owned was a single of "A Moment Like This" (2006) by Leona Lewis.

In primary school, she sang "Tomorrow" from the musical Annie in a competition. So nervous at first that she turned her back to the audience, she cried while singing but still won second place.By age 8, she knew that she wanted to be a singer, although she was quite shy.At the urging of her mothershe took musical theater lessons in a Saturday school and participated in a gospel choir. She was one of a few black girls in her primary school, which made her want to leave the area

At age 15, she was accepted by BRIT School, a highly selective but free performing arts school in Croydon. She traveled an hour and 45 minutes each way to attend, always falling asleep on the commute. In 2020, she said that attending BRIT School was "the best thing I ever did"She initially studied musical theatre, but switched to songwriting for her final two years and convinced her mother to buy her a second-hand piano.Her inspiration for songwriting and performing was ignited at age 17 when a teacher at the school played, on the projector, a live version of Paul Simon singing "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" with a South African group, which she says "just sparked something"At BRIT School, she became close friends with classmates Rachel Chinouriri and Raye.