Oak Island characters
Initially, the cast consisted of a core group including Rick, Marty, and Alex Lagina, Dan and Dave Blankenship, Craig Tester, Jack Begley, Dan Henskee, Charles Barkhouse, and Peter Fornetti. Over time, the Oak Island team has expanded. Some specialists who have been brought to the island for specific purposes, such as Terry Matheson, Laird Niven, and Gary Drayton, have joined the team as full-time members.
Rick Lagina: Brother of Marty, Rick is a retired postal worker who is the main driving force behind the project. At the age of eleven, he read an article about the Oak Island money pit in the January 1965 edition of Reader's Digest and got Marty, his younger brother, interested in the Oak Island mystery. In 2006, he and Marty purchased most of Oak Island.
Marty Lagina: Rick Lagina's younger brother who funds a large proportion of the project. He owns a vineyard in his home town of Traverse City, Michigan. He is a certified diver and is featured prominently in the spin-off The Curse of Civil War Gold.
Dan Blankenship (seasons 1–6): A treasure seeker on Oak Island for nearly 50 years, Dan was first attracted to the island after reading the same Reader's Digest article that Rick and Marty Lagina did. Dan was responsible for drilling borehole 10–X and had dived to the bottom of the 235-foot-deep (72 m) shaft, the deepest shaft on the island. In season 1, he was 90 years old and did not take an active part in the search but was often sought out by team members for his extensive knowledge. He died in 2019 at age 95, prior to the filming of season 7.
Dave Blankenship: Son of Dan Blankenship who has been helping his father on the island since the 1970s. Dave is one of only three permanent inhabitants of Oak Island. He is partially paralysed on the left side due to an industrial accident.
Craig Tester: The business partner of Marty Lagina, father of Drake Tester and stepfather of Jack Begley; he is an engineer.
Jack Begley: Stepson of Craig Tester, Jack tends to take on the dirtier jobs on the island, such as manually searching the spoils from various shafts, manual digging, and even walking through the swamp.
Alex Lagina: The son of Marty, he is a qualified diver and is featured prominently in season 2 of the spin-off The Curse of Civil War Gold.
Dan Henskee: One of only three Oak Island treasure hunters who have been searching the island for several decades. He initially came to the island to help Dan Blankenship in his search.
Charles Barkhouse: An Oak Island historian who also acts as a tour guide for Oak Island Tours, the company that owns most of the island. Charles is a freemason.
Peter Fornetti: Rick and Marty's nephew.
David Fornetti: Rick and Marty's nephew who appeared in one episode of season 1 but was credited as being part of the Oak Island team; became a regular in season 8.
William Castedo: David Fornetti's friend who only appeared in one episode of season 1, but was credited as being part of the Oak Island team.
Paul Troutman (season 2–): A researcher and the son of a man who worked with Robert Dunfield alongside Dan Blankenship in the 1960s.
Drake Tester (season 2–4): Son of Craig Tester and stepbrother of Jack Begley, Drake died in March 2017.
Fred Nolan (season 3): A land surveyor who first came to Oak Island in 1958, he was a landowner and treasure hunter on the island until his death in 2016. For much of that time, he was involved in a feud with Dan Blankenship until he was convinced to join the team in season 3. Like Blankenship, his advanced age prevented him from taking a more active role in the hunt, but he still provided a wealth of information to the team, and his maps continued to assist the team after his death. He died before season 4 aired and did not appear during the season. It is revealed in "Drilling Down – The Truth Behind The Curse" that he never spent a night on Oak Island, despite having a house there.
Doug Crowell (season 4–): A researcher who introduces the team to Zena Halpern. He is normally employed at the Centre of Geographic Sciences in Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia, and is seen there during some episodes.
Billy Gerhardt (season 4–): A heavy equipment operator who starts conducting most of the heavy digging in season 4. He has his own business called Gerhardt Property Improvement in Lunenburg, and his trucks and other machinery are often seen at the money pit and Smith's Cove areas of Oak Island.
Terry Matheson (season 5–): A local geologist who joins the team to analyze cuttings and cores from the various boreholes on the island. He later takes part in the excavation of Smith's Cove.
Laird Niven (season 5–): A local archaeologist who first appears in "Always Forward", he joins the team officially in season 5 after the province of Nova Scotia's Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage insists on archaeological oversight.
Gary Drayton (recurring seasons 2, 4, team member season 5–): A metal detecting expert from the UK. Although he appeared in seasons 2 and 4, he did not become a permanent member of the team until sometime in season 5. He has also appeared on the spin-off The Curse of Civil War Gold.
Steve Guptill (season 6–): A local surveyor, he is first brought in to compile years of data in order to find the precise location of shaft 6. Later, he is seen most places where accurate coordinates are required.
Tom Nolan (season 7): Son of Fred Nolan, he is first seen in season 5 and helps the team but does not become a fully fledged member until the beginning of season 7.
Scott Barlow (season 7): The Oak Island Tours Inc. project manager, he appears in several episodes in season 7.
Miriam Amirault (Season 8–10): an archaeology assistant to Laird Niven, she appeared in Episode 8 of Season 8. Miss Amirault left the series during Season 10.
