Oliver Marriott obituary: The property developer and journalist who restored 18th century Yorkshire mansion
Oliver Marriott, who has died at 86, was a business journalist, influential author and property developer who restored the 18th century John Carr mansion Grimston Garth, near the seaside village of Aldbrough in East Yorkshire.
A former writer on Investors Chronicle, The Times and Sunday Times, he went on to write the influential 1967 book The Property Boom, which shed new light on the workings of the newly-rich property tycoons of the era.
He also co-wrote the 1970 book Anatomy of a Merger, which examined the dealings of the electrical entrepreneur Arnold Weinstock.
Oliver hailed from a West Sussex family where the norm was to attend Oxford University but he demonstrated his independent streak early, by going straight into work as a clerk in an aggregate company.
After a while he moved into a more conventional role in Rothschild’s Bank, but within a couple of years was bored and left to become a financial writer.
He juggled his newspaper work with authoring his books, both of which remained standard texts for generations to come.
At age 30 he swapped journalism for a career in the property business, joining Jeffrey Stirling and Bruce McFail in Sterling Guarantee Trust.
As the analyst of the trio, he put his knowledge of the property world and the mergers market to good use, and the company grew rapidly through reverse takeovers of Town & City and later P&O.
Oliver retired from Stirling to set himself up in Churchbury Estates, later selling out to Great Portland Estates, and then Ilex Ltd.
He was equally independently minded politically, becoming a Labour councillor in the ward where his Conservative parents lived, and later a passionate campaigner against the EU.
In 2005 he unsuccessfully fought the Beverley and Holderness parliamentary seat for Ukip.
With his partner Lif, whom he met in 1963, he lavished much time and care on the manor house at Grimston and the two of them played an active part in the life of the village and of wider Holderness.
His late brother Richard, a former Lord-Lieutenant of East Yorkshire, restored the nearby Boynton Hall.
Oliver is survived by Lif, their two daughters and extended family.