Ole’s Story

Ole Heie was born bright and early Feb 11, 2009, and lit up the world from that very moment until he suddenly passed away on July 10, 2021, at the age of 12. 

“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” Steve Prefontaine
This was Ole‘s philosophy in life & he believed this to his very core. Ole did absolutely everything to the best of his ability. Whether that meant being the best student, the best athlete best friend, the best brother, the best farmer, the best musician. He took pride in being the very best he could be at everything he did.

Ole had the ability to make everybody happy. He had the most kind, gentle, funny personality and you could tell he was smiling from behind. He had an uncanny way of making anyone and everyone laugh.

Ole started kindergarten a year early (he was 4). He was adamant that he was not going back to preschool and that he was going to follow in big sister Ava’s footsteps onto that school bus. Thinking he would do two years of kindergarten everyone figured, why not let him. It’s French. It’ll be a good challenge. 2 years will do him some good. Well, Ole excelled in kindergarten. And he had established his place in this class. At their kindergarten graduation, when the rest of his classmates were choosing to be normal things like artists or dancers or police officers or nurses or doctors - do you know what Ole decided he wanted to be? A ninja! He was proudly going to become a NINJA when he grew up!  

Ole didn’t end up doing two years of kindergarten. Madame P thought he should move onto grade one. She said: “Two years of FIM grade one - that should be a good challenge!” As the end of grade one neared, Ole’s grade one teacher, Madame E phoned Ole’s mom and she said “Ole Is excelling in grade one - you can’t hold him back he’ll just be trouble. Besides he has an incredible group of friends. I think he should stay with them.”

As a parent, you want nothing but the very best for your kids. This was a decision that oles parents did not take lightly. They didn’t want Ole to struggle academically or physically as he got older. But it was obvious there was no holding him back besides he can do two years of grade 2 right?

Turns out that staying in this class with this group of friends was the best decision Ole’s parents could have made. Ole wound up excelling at everything he did. His family says that’s definitely  partly due to the people he surrounded himself with…

Physically, Ole was tiny but an animal. While he might’ve been the youngest and smallest by a long way, he never let that get in his way. In fact, he used that as his motivation. Ole didn’t start out always being the fastest. But he was willing to put in the work to improve on himself while somehow being extremely encouraging to others. It didn’t take long for him to become a true inspiration - both in school and out of school. 

Ole started running around the schoolyard at lunch. Sometimes his friends would join him, sometimes teachers would join him, and sometimes he would run alone. He was SO encouraging to anyone and everyone that wanted to join him. Eventually, Ole had a path beaten around the schoolyard. Gradually, Ole’s hard work started to pay off and instead of being mid-pack, he found himself on the podium. It wasn’t long before he became uncatchable - collecting medals, breaking records, traveling to races all around Alberta.

Ole became a very talented athlete. He loved to run, bike, xc ski, stack dice - you name it.

By the time Ole was 11, he had run a full marathon and cycled from Banff to Lake Louise and BACK in a day! (118km). When he was 12, he had run a very muddy mountain ULTRA (53 km) in the pouring rain and snow. When he finished, he said with a huge smile, ”I’ll never forget this amazing day, even though some would think the conditions were less than perfect - I think the rain and puddles and snow were the best part!”

Now, when we see a puddle, we jump in it. Because life’s too short not to -  you never know if you’re ever going to have the chance to again. 

Ole was also a talented cross country skier, cyclist, and swimmer. He became untouchable on the ski trails even by the older athletes, making his mark on the Ab Cup circuit, many Loppets, crushing the Birkie, AWG and AYC. Within the first 54 days of his last ski season, Ole had already crushed over 1000km of on snow skiing! He then went on to ski 102.17km in one day. He probably could have gone farther - but his Mum and Dad said “you have until the sun goes down”. And low and behold, as the sun was dipping over the horizon, Ole rolled into the stadium beaming having completed a whopping distance of 102.17km in a day.

At the age of 11.

He was so talented. But that never went to his head. Ole took pride in being the most kind person he could be - and he was the most encouraging teammate. Ole was the one to cheer the loudest and to be there with an encouraging word if anyone was feeling down. Often being one of the first to finish a race, Ole would cheer and run up and down the finish line, screaming his head off until the very last person crossed. His presence at practices and races is definitely missed. 

Musically…Ole had a gift. He could pick up any instrument and almost instantly turn it into magic. At the age of 4, Ole asked to learn to play the “guitar”. He was so small. No one wanted to teach him. True to Ole’s style, that became his motivation. Turns out the “guitar” he wanted was a ukelele. Finally by fluke, Ole’s Mum found him an instructor who agreed to try ONE lesson with him. ONE lesson wouldn’t hurt. That one lesson turned into weekly lessons for 8 years! (EIGHT YEARS)! Gradually he moved on to acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, flute and picollo. He started learning music by ear and writing his own. . The things he could play on those instruments were absolutely amazing. The silence without Ole’s constant music is deafening.

As a friend, Ole took pride in being the best. He loved to make us all laugh, but he could also be kind and serious. He was the first to be there when someone felt left out and loved helping in any way he could. He was such a hard worker and a great helper & just wanted everyone to succeed to the best of their abilities.   

As a farm boy, Ole was an extremely hard worker, with dreams to take over the farm with his sister, Ava.

Ole was motivated by his own improvement. While he wanted everyone to succeed, he never worried about what others were doing when it came to his own success. He was truly proud of who he was. And he never took a single moment for granted. 

Ole loved to travel. He loved to see the way others lived and it truly gave him a deep appreciation for who he was.

One of his favorite things to say was:

“You do you. And I’ll do me. And in the end, this world will be an amazing place.” ~ Ole Heie

Ole truly did make this world an amazing place. 

And he has created a movement that encourages people to do things they never thought possible. That everyone is capable of doing great things. No matter how small you may feel. 

We hope Ole has inspired you to take life by the horns and be the best person you can be. 

Because ultimately, that’s what life is all about.

#runlikeole #livelikeole @livelikeole

#skilikeole #swimlikeole