Alan Oke studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and with Hans Hotter in Munich. Following a successful career as a baritone, he made his debut as a tenor in 1992 singing Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos for Garsington Opera. Since then he has sung a wide variety of roles including Rodolfo in La bohème, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Steva in Jenůfa, Boris in Katya Kabanova and M K Gandhi in Satyagraha. He has worked with Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Opera North, English National Opera and Canadian Opera Company, as well as appearing at the Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Bregenz and Ravenna festivals.

In 2012 he sang Mao in Nixon in China at the BBC Proms and the Berlin Festival, and Caliban in The Tempest for the Metropolitan Opera.