The unlikely story of Brize
Norton’s Andrew Harrison
By Esther Lafferty, Festival Director of Oxfordshire Artweeks
(7th-30th May
Andrew Harrison grew up in a small
coal mining town in North Yorkshire
where it was generally expected that
lads would end up down the pit. So
how on earth did he end up running
a well-regarded contemporary art
gallery? It still isn’t obvious to me,
as he explains that the best escape
route from the mine was the army.
Andrew’s parents weren’t keen on him
joining the forces but agreed as long
as he took an army apprenticeship
so he learnt carpentry and joinery: he
discovered that he enjoyed working
with wood. He then spent five years
as a Combat Engineer with the
Royal Engineers until an unfortunate
accident brought this chapter of his
life to an abrupt end and set him on a
different path.
“It’s a funny story really,” laughs
Andrew. “I used to throw the discus
and was at an Amateur Athletics
Association event at the Cwmbran
Stadium, Wales in 1995 as part of the
army team when the pole-vaulter
didn’t show up. My team-mates
nominated me to stand in for him, and
on the very first attempt to use the
pole, I slipped sideways in the air and
landed on the running track breaking
both my ankles. It was an absolute
career changer!”
After a stint at Headley Court, Surrey’s
military rehabilitation centre, Andrew
C
Art
erton
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