Born in Huntingdon, Gavin was introduced to motor racing through the traditional karting route.

After finishing as runner-up in the 1993 British F3 series to Kelvin Burt, Gavin graduated to Formula 3000 in 1994 with Omegaland.

He failed to score any points in the five races he contested, and subsequently opted to drop back down to F3 for 1995.

It was proposed that he would drive for the team in the 1995 Australian Grand Prix, but he was not granted the required FIA Super Licence.

[1] He announced on April 29, 2021 via Twitter[6] that he will be continuing his working relationship with Chevrolet with the formation of a new racing school, the Oliver Gavin Driving Academy, featuring Corvette C8 Stingrays as the primary instructional vehicle.