Oliver Peck Biography

Oliver Peck’s first stint at tattooing started when he as 17 years of age. Breaking open a pen and spilling the ink, he started stabbing the same onto his leg until the idea for tattooing struck him hard. Peck’s career start has been an interesting one – coming out of his drug addiction, he started borrowing money from his drug addict friends to buy tattoo equipments. In return, he tattooed them all. What is strange is the fact that Peck has had no prior training in tattooing. In fact, he had never been to a tattoo shop or even seen a tattoo magazine and didn’t even know if it were a career possibility.

Over the years, Peck is known for his traditional tattoo style. Peck largely relied on classic American traditional style and has till date, rarely moved out of that comfort zone. He believed in keeping it simple, strong, bold and clean. Aspects common about his tattoo are that they are lasting imprints of an easily readable context that gave a timeless feel. Through his tattoos, he captured the American spirit and infused it with a modern spirit for that flawless execution.

Peck’s professional tattooing career started when he first met Stell, a professional tattoo artist. Stell saw something incredible about his art. Peck moved with him to Dallas where he worked at Stell’s tattoo studio Pair-O-Dice tattoo. Stell trained him in a professional way.

Peck’s first appearance on the television was for the American reality show ‘Miami Ink’ when he was visiting his then-wife Kat Von D. However, it was his stint as a judge on his flagship show ‘Ink Master that made him a household name. He was also seen on ‘GQ: Tattoo Artists Critique Rihanna, Justin Bieber, and More Celebrity Tattoos’. The magnum opus of Peck’s career however came with his Guinness Book of World Records stunt where he did 415 tattoos in 24 hours in June 218, surpassing his wife’ Kat Von D’s 400 mark. Though the record has since then been shattered, Peck is still one of the premiere traditional tattoo artists today. He has two commercial tattoo studios as well to his credit, Elm Street Tattoo, as well has Hollywood's True Tattoo.

Oliver Peck was born on July 29, 1971 in Texas, US to Diane Lucas. At a very early age, Peck’s love for drawing and art was discovered. He passionately drew pictures and painted canvases. Interestingly, Peck wasn’t a conventional student. He enrolled at the South West High School but would attend any class that he liked. An avid skater, Peck soon became a favourite of the girls who were bowled over by his skating skills. This further enraged the football team of the school who were envious of Peck’s skating talent.

By the time Peck turned a teenager, he got involved in drugs and eventually got addicted. For his drug abuse, Peck was even incarcerated. However, he soon realized his mistake and started working on a conveyable factory. Meanwhile, Peck’s passion for tattooing ignited around the same time.

He married tattoo artist, Kat Von D, in 2003. The couple broke up in 2007.