Blogging in French in his native Canada, this pharmacist, blogger and humourist has a talent for turning science into hilarious cartoons that can ‘go viral’ in an instant.
His most popular blog post? “Easily the vaccine one – 5 badly-informed opinions about vaccination. It became the most popular topic, much to my own surprise.”
Olivier’s hugely popular blog, Le Pharmachien, has been running for several years in Canada making him something of a celebrity scientist.
“I created my blog in order to renew the public’s interest in health… I wanted to make it very personal, funny and light – something that people could connect with.”
The illustrated article on vaccines tackles vaccine myths with a large dose of good humour and helped to make him a ‘go to guy’ for media discussions on vaccines.
The real issue in contributing to media discussions on immunisation is to make people understand that there is really no “vaccine debate” among genuine experts, according to Olivier. “You need to give some perspective but it can be done in a fun way.”
Olivier says the feedback on his vaccines article was overwhelmingly good. Doctors and scientists were happy to see these ideas voiced in a simple way and it was a hit with the public too – apart from some negativity which he handled with aplomb.
The blog – which has now spawned a book – continues to attract thousands of hits per day. Some come for science, some come for personal stories but they all stay for the jokes.
“What matters most is that it is authentic. My blog is my personality. If the tone is aligned with who you are people respond to it; they can connect with it.”
More: Le Pharmachien