I am a writer and photographer, and love to combine both mediums. The focus of my work is the natural world and our relationship to it. I am also a nature connection guide. 

 

My book 'To Hear the Trees Speak' was published in hardback, audiobook and e-book in 2025, with the paperback being released in 2026.

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I have a background in sustainability, having worked as a sustainability strategy and communications consultant. For the last 18 years, working in both London and New York, I have advised some of the world’s leading companies on sustainability strategy and how to communicate sustainability to audiences ranging from employees to consumers to investors. I am now a freelance consultant. 

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I combine my knowledge of sustainability and climate change with long experience in creative writing. I gained a first-class BA Combined Honours degree in English and French from the University of Southampton, UK. In 2010, my ‘Creativist Manifesto’ was published on the ChangeThis website, following a popular vote to select it for publication. The manifesto argued that the biggest choice that we face in society is whether to be a consumer or a creativist, which I defined as ‘connecting + creating + acting’.

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In 2014, I was accepted on to the prestigious Place and Environment Writing MA at Royal Holloway, University of London. Here I studied with Sir Andrew Motion, Jo Shapcott and Kei Miller, writing both poetry and creative non-fiction related to the environment. I completed the first year but was unable to finish the second year of the program due to personal reasons.

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My poetry has been included in exhibitions in the Victoria & Albert Museum and William Morris Gallery in London amongst others, and been part of collections including those of the 26 Writers and Forest Writers groups. I am a founder member of Chalk & Stream Collective, a writers' group based in Lewes, East Sussex. Our first collaboration was an illustrated book of poems about the Winterbourne, a rate chalk stream. 

 

I am also a photographer. I was part of a group show, 'Into the Immense Design of Things' at the George Lawson Gallery in Mill Valley, California, from 15 February - 15 March 2020. I have undertaken numerous personal projects, including documenting the Rose Garden at Greenwich for a year, as well as completing courses at leading institutions such as Central St Martin’s, London and International Center of Photography in New York. I took a picture every day from August 2016 - January 2026. 

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I have trained in Ecotherapy with The Tariki Trust, completing both the Certificate program and Diploma programmes. 

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My article about Finland was published in The Guardian travel section in January 2026.

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I have Finnish and American parents, and grew up in Derbyshire, England where the trees in our garden included a redwood tree and a mulberry tree. ‘To Hear the Trees Speak’ is my first book. I now live in East Sussex, UK. 

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You can find me sharing thoughts and pictures on  Instagram (@oliviasprinkel) and on my Substack. 

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