Obituary: Dennis O'Hare, drilling consultant to oil and gas industry

Dennis O'Hare's untimely death in a diving accident off Malta a week ago has robbed his family of a wonderful husband, father, brother and son, and left his many friends bereft at the loss of a figure who truly was larger than life.

Tributes have poured in to the family home in Balloch in West Dunbartonshire from all over the world. They spoke of his friendliness as a person and the impeccable professionalism he showed in nearly 35 years as a leading drilling consultant in the oil and gas industry.

O'Hare was one of the first four graduates of a special Masters degree created by Heriot-Watt University in the mid-1970s to cater for Scotland's North Sea oil boom. His stellar career in the oil and gas drilling industry was the proof that such courses could and did provide suitable people to lead drilling expeditions worldwide.

He was a true pioneer, working first on some of the deepest drilling operations in the North Sea in the late 1970s, before becoming a drilling consultant on whose decisions about where and when to drill rested millions of pounds' worth of investment. He was also always meticulous about the safety of the men and women in his charge.

O'Hare was born and raised in Renton in the Vale of Leven between the Clyde and Loch Lomond. His father, James, died at 49, leaving his mother, Mary, invariably known as May, to raise Dennis and his brothers James and Gerry. Until his death he remained devoted to this remarkable woman, who is still dancing in her 80s, and he would head to see her as soon as he returned from whichever part of the world he was working in.

Educated at the then St Patrick's High Scool in Dumbarton, O'Hare studied electrical engineering at Glasgow University, where he was a stalwart of the University Union.

Though not the tallest of men, he had a giant personality that made him seem much bigger than he actually was, so much so that he served as a steward at the union. On graduating from Glasgow he began work with Schlumberger before joining the Heriot-Watt course, graduating in November 1976. He then worked for BP and Marathon before becoming a consultant at the age of just 26.

His truly was a global career. At one time or another he drilled in Somalia, Egypt, Kuwait, Nigeria, Angola, Trinidad, Italy, Greece, Ireland, Guinea, India, South Africa, Yemen, Benin, Tunisia, Namibia and the China Sea.He repaid his debt to the Scottish education system by giving guest lectures at Strathclyde University.

Diving became a hobby that he followed passionately, and when he wasn't scouting a wreck or indulging his love of underwater photography, O'Hare would take to the hills for long walks that kept him very fit.

Naturally patient and tolerant, O'Hare nevertheless did not suffer fools gladly. The story is told of the time when he went to a motor show dressed in his perennial gear of jeans and trainers. A sniffy salesman took one look and rudely rejected his request for a test drive of an Audi Quattro so O'Hare duly went to another stand and got his test drive, buying the Audi Quattro and telling the successful salesman to make sure his rude colleague knew how much commission he had lost.

From an early age, O'Hare had a wide circle of friends, and liked nothing better than to share a beer and a story with them. His love of a party and travel came together in his journeys to Ireland, a country he grew to love.

Dennis found great happiness in his marriage to Lesley, a dietician who never quite curbed his fondness for a beer. Her calm personality gelled with his ebullience in a true love match that produced two fine children in James and Kathryn.

Earlier this week, the Maltese equivalent of an inquest concluded that O'Hare died from barotrauma, proof that his death was accidental. Needless speculation about other causes proved to be well wide of the mark.

His 16-year-old son James took to the internet to warn against such speculation, and with maturity beyond his years, wrote most movingly of his father: "Dennis O'Hare is a man the world knew, and has made me into who I am. He had many values in life and above all, was putting his family first. He died doing what he loved, and for me, that is a relief and warming."

Those who counted Dennis as a friend now also know the truth of those words that grief is the price you pay for having loved. And that grief is very great.

Dennis O'Hare is survived by his wife Lesley, children James and Kathryn, mother Mary, brothers James and Gerry and their families. His funeral will take place next Friday in St Martin's RC Church, Renton.