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Oliver Alexander Thornton (born 15 July 1990) is an English singer and actor. He is best known as the lead singer of Years & Years and for his performance as Ritchie Tozer in the Channel 4 drama series, It's a Sin. Alexander is a six-time Brit Awards nominee and has also been nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor and the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television.

Early life
Oliver Alexander Thornton was born in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. His mother, Vicki Thornton, was one of the founders of the Coleford Music Festival. Alexander attended St John's Primary School in Coleford and Monmouth Comprehensive School. While at Monmouth Comprehensive School, he acted in two school plays: Guys and Dolls, as Benny, and The Caucasian Chalk Circle, as the Corporal. After completing his GCSEs, Alexander studied Performing Arts at the Hereford College of Arts. The New York Times reported that he wrote his first song on his father's Casio keyboard aged 10. His parents separated when he was 13, and he and his brother Ben, who is autistic, were thereafter brought up solely by his mother.

He obtained the services of an agent when he was 16, while auditioning for a part in British TV series Skins. In a YouTube video uploaded from NylonMagazineTV, Alexander said he dropped out of the Hereford College of Arts to pursue his acting career as parts were offered, stating: "I started acting when I was young; it just sort of happened. I dropped out of school to work around the world, which was amazing." "I really wanted to become a singer or a musician ... All of a sudden I was an actor. It was never something I'd set my heart on being. I'm still trying to work it out ... I really hated school because I was totally bullied. But you're never bullied in drama class because the weird kids do well in drama class. That's a safe place". Alexander was interviewed about his mental health by Guardian columnist Owen Jones. He further expanded on his bullying, bulimia and early life experiences during a 2021 interview in the same publication.