​Oliver Hymans is an award-winning puppetry artist and director, and currently serves as Associate Director at Little Angel Theatre, the UK’s leading puppet theatre.

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He has worked internationally across four continents, directing and designing puppetry for theatre, opera, film, dance, circus, and music video. His puppets have been featured at prestigious venues including Tate Modern, Southbank Centre, Royal Albert Hall, Arcola Theatre, The National Gallery, Camden Roundhouse, Lyric Hammersmith, the V&A, ICA Institute of Contemporary Arts, London Craft Week and the Salone del Mobile in Milan, the world’s principal international design fair.

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Oliver’s productions have been widely acclaimed by critics, praised as “visually dazzling… funny and beautiful… poetic and precise” (The Guardian), with “rich, sophisticated and thrillingly designed…” (The Stage). His puppet designs have been described as having “brilliant, realistic movement and wonderful personality” (Broadway World) and “filled with life” (Total Theatre Magazine).

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A leading figure in puppetry education, Oliver teaches on many of the Little Angel Theatre’s professional development courses in all aspects of puppetry.

He is also a specialist in the heritage craft of marionette making and in 2023, he successfully championed the addition of marionette puppetry to Heritage Craft's Red List of Endangered Crafts. His advocacy and artistry have earned him a QEST Scholarship (Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust), inclusion in the prestigious Homo Faber Fellowship, and recognition as a finalist for Heritage Crafts’ Woodworker of the Year 2023.

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In 2025, Oliver received a special Fringe Theatre Award for Exceptional Services to Puppetry. recognising Oliver’s outstanding contribution to the puppetry world as an advocate, artisan, designer and mentor. He won an OFFIE Award in 2023 for his curation of the outstanding annual puppet festival that spotlights top quality British and international shows for young people and additionally promotes access to puppetry for people of all ages, including industry creatives, by offering practical workshops. Oliver’s efforts also underpin a unique puppetry design training programme, generating opportunity for otherwise underrepresented rising talent to be supported and to present their work publicly, whilst more widely helping secure the future of the genre.

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Alongside his professional practice, Oliver has taught widely as a visiting tutor and lecturer at leading UK arts institutions including Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Central Saint Martins, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Rose Bruford College, and Wimbledon College of Arts. He has delivered workshops for multiple leading arts institutions including The Barbican, The London Museum, & Primary Shakespeare Company, and many more. 

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Oliver also reaches a global audience online, with over 65,000 social media followers and a viral cat puppet that has been viewed more than 42 million times on Instagram.