Available to book
Owen O'Kane
Mental Health
Happiness
Team Building
Transform workplace mental health with Owen O'Kane, speaker and mental health expert. Owen works with organisations to build resilience, manage anxiety, and create psychologically safe cultures, delivering evidence-based strategies trusted by global leadership teams across 40+ countries.
Personal Wellbeing
Business Leader
Healthcare
Author
Personal Development
Burnout
Mental Health Awareness
Owen O'Kane is one of the UK's most respected mental health experts, known for translating complex psychological ideas into practical tools anyone can use. A former NHS clinical lead for mental health, Owen has helped shape care at the highest levels — but it's his ability to connect deeply, personally, and powerfully with audiences that sets him apart.
Owen has written four Sunday Times bestselling books, translated into more than 40 languages worldwide. His latest, Addicted to Anxiety, was an instant Sunday Times bestseller, sold into 23+ countries, and reframes anxiety as a form of emotional addiction, offering a fresh, compassionate roadmap for healing. A BBC Maestro and star of the TV show Change Your Mind, Change Your Life, Owen brings clinical expertise to a global audience far beyond the conference stage.
His work draws from rich real-life experience: growing up during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, working as a palliative care specialist helping patients face their final days, and navigating the personal challenges of coming out in a Catholic family. These experiences give Owen's talks a rare authenticity and emotional impact.
Today, Owen speaks globally at wellness festivals, leadership summits, and corporate events, equipping audiences with strategies for resilience, trauma awareness, and emotional wellbeing. He also designs workshops for senior leadership teams, helping organisations foster mentally healthy cultures from the top down. A trusted media voice, Owen has appeared in hundreds of TV, radio, and podcast episodes, consistently delivering clarity, warmth, and insight.
Owen's work has reached millions through international book deals in over 40 countries, but his mission remains personal: helping people break free from fear, reconnect with themselves, and live more meaningful lives.
Topics, sessions and talks
Owen O'Kane draws on twenty years of clinical experience as a psychotherapist to show audiences that good mental health is a skill, not a given. Cutting through the noise around wellness, Owen offers a practical, evidence-based framework for understanding the anxious mind, breaking negative thought patterns, and building daily routines that support lasting wellbeing. Audiences leave with concrete tools to manage stress, navigate crisis, and create a calmer, more resilient inner life.
Owen O'Kane brings a psychotherapist's perspective to explain why people resist change in an AI-driven world and how to develop the flexible mindset needed to thrive within it. Combining psychology, neuroscience, and hard workplace data, he unpacks why fear and concern towards AI are not character flaws but predictable human responses. Owen introduces the concept of psychological flexibility, the clinically proven skill that allows people to stay calm, clear, and capable when the ground keeps moving. Practical, warm, and grounded in real evidence.
Owen O'Kane challenges the idea that positive thinking is the foundation of mental strength. Drawing on clinical psychology and his own experience as a psychotherapist, Owen introduces the science of flexible thinking — the ability to hold difficulty without being defined by it. He walks audiences through how the Threat, Drive, and Soothe systems quietly drive stress, overwhelm, and burnout, and explains why rigid optimism breaks under pressure where psychological flexibility holds. Audiences leave with practical micro-tools they can use immediately, alongside a clear message: your mental wellbeing is your responsibility — and that is a reason for hope, not anxiety.
Owen O'Kane offers your team expert insights into achieving better mental health, reducing stress, and enhancing productivity. His unique blend of experience and practical techniques empowers individuals with flexible thinking strategies, crucial for success in today's fast-paced work environment. Transform your workplace culture and drive success with Owen's guidance.
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frequently asked questions
Something we've not covered here?
Email owen.o.kane@getapeptalk.com or call PepTalk on +44 20 3835 2929 (UK) or +1 737 888 5112 (US), and one of our speaker agents will contact you within hours to confirm Owen's availability and fees. If you can, please include your budget upfront – it helps us fast-track your request. It’s also helpful to know the date, format (virtual or in-person), location, and a bit about your audience.
Owen O'Kane structures his sessions around a three-system psychological model — Threat, Drive, and Soothe — drawn from clinical psychology, which he uses to explain the mechanics of stress, burnout, and rigid thinking. He translates this framework into micro-tools audiences can apply immediately, grounded in his twenty years of psychotherapeutic practice and evidence from neuroscience and workplace research.
Owen O'Kane's sessions address stress and anxiety management, psychological flexibility in the context of AI and workplace change, and the science of flexible thinking as a foundation for mental resilience. He is the author of four Sunday Times bestselling books, including Addicted to Anxiety, and served as an NHS clinical lead for mental health.
No. PepTalk adds no booking fee, so you pay the speaker's fee and nothing beyond it. The service, from shortlist through to contracts and event-day logistics, is included. For repeat or multi-event bookings, PepTalk can agree preferential rates with your procurement team.
Share your event date, audience, format, objectives and budget, and PepTalk sends a hand-picked shortlist within 24 hours. Each suggestion comes with a profile, a fee and a recommendation on the strongest fit. Once you choose, PepTalk handles contracts, travel and logistics through to event day.
The typical fee range is the speaker's standard in-person fee in their home market, shown in their local currency. It moves with format, location, date and session length: virtual sessions and shorter slots usually cost less, while international travel and peak dates cost more. Send your brief to PepTalk and the team will confirm the exact fee in your currency.
Not all of them, and it makes no difference to your booking. PepTalk's network of 15,000+ speakers covers talent the team works with directly alongside speakers represented by agents and agencies worldwide. PepTalk approaches the speaker, negotiates the fee and handles contracting either way.
Three to six months ahead is comfortable for most events, and 12 months is better for large conferences, peak-season dates or one specific in-demand speaker. Shorter timelines are workable, and PepTalk regularly fills last-minute and replacement bookings within days. Availability is the constraint, so get in touch as soon as you have a date.
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