biography

Deyemi Okanlawon (born 19 April 1981 in Lagos, Nigeria) is a film, television, theatre and voice actor. Widely regarded as one of the most versatile actors in the Nigerian film industry, Deyemi is best known for his roles in the Netflix Original films and series; Blood Sisters, The King’s Horseman, Castle and Castle, King of Boys: The Return of the King, Lisabi as well as several other blockbusters including Omo Ghetto: The Saga, Prophetess, All’s Fair In Love. and was listed in the Film One Box Office report as the highest grossing Nollywood actor of 2020 and 2021.

Okanlawon was born in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria to an Aircraft Engineer father Adeyemi Okanlawon, and Adeyinka Okanlawon a baker and entrepreneur. He had his primary school education at Taikenny Nursery and Primary School in Lagos, and his secondary education at International School, Lagos. He then went on to study Chemical Engineering at the University of Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria. A former sales and marketing executive he also obtained a Certificate in Acting for Film, from the Del-York Creative Academy.

career

Okanlawon had his first experience with acting at the age of 5, when he featured in an 'end-of-year' play while in primary school. At the age of 9, Okanlawon featured in a nationally syndicated Television commercial with Kunle Bamtefa and Sola Sobowale. While at the University of Lagos, Okanlawon became an active member of the drama groups Gf(x) (Harvesters Company), Xtreme Reaction and Snapshots (Covenant Christian Centre).
Upon graduation he worked as a sales and marketing executive in several industries including FMCG, Financial Service and Tech

Okanlawon made his feature film debut in the 2010 movie ZR-7 as well as a short film titled A Grain of Wheat. He went on to feature in and co-produce many more short films and by 2012 he had gained notoriety for his numerous appearances in short films and web series including Gidi Up, Blink and Knock Knock.

In 2013 he switched careers to focus on acting full-time and has since featured in over 50 films, TV series, theatre productions, music videos and commercials, winning and being nominated for several top African film awards including AFRIFF, AMAA, AMVCA, GMA, BON, In-Short, City People.

In 2015, Deyemi founded Covenant Entertainment Services, a full service production advisory, marketing consulting and talent management firm and soon became a consultant to Silverbird Film Distribution. In 2019 he took up the position of marketing manager at Silverbird Distribution, rose to head Nollywood and Independent movie distribution and by 2020 during the pandemic Deyemi took over the management of the operations of the company as acting CEO before he went back to acting full time in 2021.

In 2024, after 10 years in the industry and with his sales and marketing experience coupled with knowledge garnered both in front and behind the camera, Deyemi produced his first movie All’s Fair In Love, a romantic comedy featuring Timini Egbuson and Buhle Samuels. The movie grossed over N130,000,000 in West Africa box office and is currently licensed to Prime Video where it became the 2nd most watched Nollywood title of 2024.

Deyemi is married to Damilola and they have 3 children.