Oly’s Dean – black koles

SLC, UT

Co-Directed by Asher Koles & Chase White

Oly’s Dean, our latest documentary for Patagonia Films explores that evolution, and what it means to grow up in a place where wonder still leads the way.

Set along British Columbia’s remote Dean River, “Oly’s Dean” follows 9-year-old Oly Hickman as he moves through his family’s fishing lodge in the heart of steelhead country. Each summer, anglers from around the world come to swing flies for the Dean’s legendary fish. Bears roam the shoreline. The river runs cold and clear. Oly, however, is just as content chasing toads as wild steelhead. More interested in wanderings than trophies, he explores the wilderness on his own terms. At an age when his father, veteran guide Jeff Hickman, can turn him loose and trust him to be safe, Oly ties flies of his own design and learns the rhythms of lodge life in a place that rewards curiosity. When he hooks and lands a chrome-bright wild steelhead on a fly he created himself, the moment feels less like conquest than connection. Through quiet observation, “Oly’s Dean” captures a childhood rooted in independence and stewardship—and parents learning to see the world with a renewed sense of wonder.

Services

Direction
Narrative Development
Production
Post-Production

LETTING OLY LEAD

When we set out to make a film about Oly, the goal was simple: let him lead.

We had a thesis, a loose arc, but knew the story would reveal itself over time.

Shot over two weeks on the mighty Dean River in remote British Columbia, the process was less about directing and more about observing. Two interviews, a third that didn’t quite go to plan (turns out interviewing a nine-year-old is harder than expected), and the rest, just time spent in Oly’s world.

Chasing toads, exploring the shoreline, the forest, watching the bears, hanging with Gordy the grouse, and doing chores around the lodge. Living moment to moment and observing with camera’s always at the ready.

Like most projects like this, the story wasn’t fully clear until the edit. But somewhere in all of it, that perspective we were chasing started to take shape.

One of the best parts about making a film like this is capturing things you could never plan. A year before this project, we watched Oly, with a lot of assistance from his dad, Jeff, catch a steelhead. At the time, Oly was just starting to tie flies and spey cast. At only 8 years old, he had a long road ahead When we came back the following summer, it was a different story. He’d progressed rapidly and dialed in his tying and casting. He was selling flies to guests, and had already made a few hundred bucks by the time we showed up with cameras.

One morning, he sat down and tied something new: the “Mug Bug,” he called it. His own mix of two classic steelhead flies (muddler and buck bug). That day we captured him tying it. Then went fishing. And sure enough, he landed a steelhead on it. He did something that the majority of mature anglers never do — invent a pattern, tie it yourself, then catch a fish on it. Felt only right to have Oly Dean himself show the world how to tie it.

Oly's Mug Bug

Oly's Dean Screenings

Patagonia hosted four screenings at select retail locations with the filmmakers, the Hickman family, and representatives from the film’s NGO sponsor, Native Fish Society, in attendance.

Vancouver, B.C: June 2026
Seattle, WA: June 2026
Portland, OR: June 2026
Salt Lake City, UT: June 2026

Have You Seen TOM?

Check out our previous film for Patagonia, TOM: The Friend Fish Deserve

Tom Derry is the connection between wild fish and the activists striving to protect them. A lifelong angler and the director of wild steelhead funding for the Native Fish Society, Tom embodies the commitment behind countless conservation efforts, all with a single goal: more wild fish. Filmed along British Columbia’s Babine River, Tom captures the essence of angling for wild steelhead and provides insight into what motivates a motivator.

LETTING OLY LEAD

Toyota