Alfred Ollivant was an English novelist best known for Owd Bob, a story of sheepdogs and rural life in Cumbria. Published in America as Bob, Son of Battle, the novel combines the rivalry between two dogs with the tensions of the farming community around them. Its landscape and animal characters are central to its enduring appeal.

Born in Nuthurst, Sussex, Ollivant turned toward writing after a riding injury ended his brief military career. Owd Bob appeared in 1898 and became his best-known work. He returned to its world in Danny, while continuing to write fiction that explored country life, human ambition, and the relationships between people and animals.

His other books include The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea, the Sussex racing story Boy Woodburn, and Boxer & Beauty, a tale of two cart horses. He also contributed to periodicals on both sides of the Atlantic. Across this varied body of work, his interest in rural settings and animal life gave his storytelling a distinctive character.