Heading up M-Sport’s electrical department, Nicola Olley is responsible for the smooth running of M-Sport’s electrical team.
Organizing and delegating workloads, arranging event support and maintaining stock levels – Nicola ensures quality work meets strict deadlines, and is also an expert harness builder herself.
She built the first main loom for the Ford Puma Rally1 in just over 10 weeks – that’s more than a kilometer of electrical wire hand stripped, crimped and woven into the lifeline of M-Sport’s top-specification world rally car.
She has a penchant for detail and combines her managerial role with the hands-on work that underpins her passion for the job.
Claiming there’s nothing better than a good-looking wiring loom, she likens the build process to an army of soldiers as everything has to be identical and, “you have to keep your soldiers in line!”
When Nicola joined the M-Sport family it only built top-specification world rally cars.
During her time with the team, she has seen the company diversify with a comprehensive ladder of opportunity and the introduction of race cars; and now rally raid vehicles too.
“I like being busy and getting involved in lots of different things,” she says.
“There’s always something different going on and we’ve tried to run our department so that everyone gets to have a go at everything.
“We’re always learning and like to bounce ideas off each other and work together to find new and more effective ways of operating.
“We’re always discussing how we can improve things and that’s vital for development – for the development of ourselves as well as the products we’re producing.”
DirtFish Women’s Month aims to educate and inspire – telling the stories of women involved in all roles of motorsport and culminating in the Women in Motorsport Summit on March 11.
