Colum O’Donovan was born into a family of two brothers in a small market town in West Cork, Ireland. His parents and grandparents owned a small grocery store and wool shop which was at the heart of the local community and open 7 days a week from dawn to dusk.
From an early age Colum started problem solving by helping the local customers in his family’s grocery shop, he started to understand customer’s needs and help solve them. He has carried this skill into his adult life in both his engineering and fine furniture careers.
At secondary school Colum flourished in science, technical drawing and woodwork, and was drawn to the more creative world where he could explore his ideas through making things by hand.
Colum graduated from University College Cork with a Degree in Civil Engineering and spent his summers working at a local planning and design office, working on domestic and small commercial plans and working drawings. He then embarked on a 30-year career in engineering. He moved from being an in-house draftsman of to become the market lead in the UAE for one of the largest multi-discipline engineering practices in the world.
Colum worked on some of the world’s most challenging construction projects. These included projects such as the Dubai Creek Harbour Tall Tower (the tallest tower in the world), Dubai Expo’s Conference and Exhibition Centre, UAE’s Emirati Housing Programme and a Botanical Garden in Abu Dhabi. The technical skills learnt during this period are reflected in his current furniture collections through the meticulous planning, attention to detail and exceptionally high finishing standards.
During this time Colum was part of the Executive Leadership team and benefitted from visits to Asia, Australia and South Africa. His experiences of varied cultures stimulated and fuelled his passion for working with people and furthered his desire to try and capture the excitement and inspiration that travel adventures bring.
In 2020 Colum began a significant transition from this fast-paced lifestyle to revisit his love of traditional fine woodwork craft skills, first discovered at secondary school. He was introduced to Robert Ingham and visited his workshop in North Wales, this meeting inspired Colum to commit to the career change and embrace his love for the craft of fine furniture making. In 2022 Colum became a student on the 40-week fine furniture designer and maker course at Williams & Cleal in Somerset UK. Under the tuition of Jane and Justin Williams he fine-tuned his practice and became confident in setting up his own fine furniture business.
Colum’s work is inspired and influenced by renowned designers such as Robert Ingham, Joseph Walsh and James Krenov. These prolific designers have learnt to harness the challenges of solid wood in a very natural but uniquely different way, expressing their own distinct style of design and making.
Colum is settled in Dubai where he has a fine furniture making workshop, designing and making high-quality fine furniture commissions. He lives with his wife Sarah and three children Maggie, Al and Paddy, travelling frequently and spending time in the snow-covered, powdery mountains of Chamonix and the rugged, salty coastal landscape of his native West Cork.
To enquire about a commission please contact us.