Olivia Cooke was named Harvard Athletics’ Director of Multimedia and Production in June 2022. A native of nearby Nahant, Cooke joined the Crimson after a successful stint at Virginia Tech.
In her role, Cooke leads all creative content initiatives for the athletics department, using her skills and background in digital media to help tell the story of Harvard Athletics and its accomplished programs. She also coordinates the Crimson’s live broadcasts and video board shows.
Prior to arriving in Cambridge, Cooke served as a HokieVision graduate assistant for Virginia Tech Athletics, beginning in August of 2020. Cooke played an instrumental part in producing social media and promotional content for Virginia Tech’s 18 programs and was a senior crew member for its linear and digital broadcast productions that appeared on ESPN’s family of networks and in-house videoboards.
To make the Hokies’ content more engaging and impactful, Cooke facilitated collaboration among many of VT’s external units to conceive and produce feature stories, while developing a strategic content plan. Cooke, who earned her Master of Public Administration from the school this spring, also mentored, trained, and managed a team of Virginia Tech undergraduates.
Before pursuing her master’s degree, Cooke spent her undergraduate career at Clemson where she was a member of the women’s rowing program in 2016-17, before moving into a production assistant role with the athletic department’s video services team in Feb. 2017. Cooke gained invaluable experience, covering the Tigers’ run to the football national title, assisting with ESPN/ACCN broadcasts and videoboard shows, and developing Clemson’s student interns.
In August of 2018, Cooke added her to responsibilities when she joined Clemson University’s video services department as a digital media intern. During her three-month stint, Cooke participated in field shoots and edited social content for Clemson.edu and its social media accounts. She also networked with other universities to create content that marketed collaborative research efforts between the schools.
Cooke, who graduated from Clemson in 2020 with bachelor’s degrees in communications and world cinema, also spent time as a development intern with Engel Entertainment in New York during the summer of 2017 and with the Town of Nahant as a communications and policy intern from June 2021-Jan. 2022.
