Christian author Dave Hollis died from accidental overdose of cocaine, ethanol and fentany

Dave Hollis, a former executive for Disney, Christian author and the ex-husband of Girl Wash Your Face author Rachel Hollis, died of an accidental overdose, a medical examiner’s office revealed nearly three months after the 47-year-old’s death.

According to an autopsy report obtained by NBC News from the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office, Hollis had lethal amounts of cocaine, fentanyl and alcohol in his system. The report also revealed that Hollis had a history of drug and alcohol abuse, high blood pressure, depression, hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and moderate to severe atherosclerosis in his heart. The Medical Examiner ruled Hollis’ death as an accident.

Hollis died at his home in Austin, Texas, on February 11. At the time, a representative for Hollis’ family said he died “peacefully.”

Hollis’ ex-wife, Rachel Hollis, an author and influencer, said in a statement that they were devastated by his death and requested prayers for their four children: sons Jackson, Sawyer and Ford, and daughter Noah. The couple was married for 16 years before announcing their split in June 2020. 

Hollis led theatrical distribution at Disney from 2011 to 2018, helping to launch successful film franchises like “Frozen” and “Black Panther.” He left Disney in 2018 to relocate to Texas with his family and ran Chic Media, which was owned by his then-wife Rachel.

He also hosted a podcast titled “Rise Together” and wrote several books, including 2020’s Get Out of Your Own Way, in which he discussed his drinking and problems in his marriage, 2021’s Built Through Courage: Face Your Fears to Live the Life You Were Meant For and the 2022 children’s book Here’s to Your Dreams.UnmuteAdvanced SettingsFullscreenPauseUp Next

In a 2021 interview with The Christian Post, Hollis said 2020 had been the “hardest year” of his life, “outpacing any other year by a factor of 100” due to his highly-publicized divorce. 

Yet, he said he was the “strongest” he’d ever been, mentally, emotionally, relationally and spiritually.”

“There is, for every single one of us, a very intentional purpose that our Creator has placed us on this planet for, and our work in this life we have is to do everything we can, every single day, to honor the intention of that Creator,” he said at the time.

“But doing that work, finding a way to step closer to our purpose or honor that intention, is something that requires courage, because it often requires leaving what we’ve known for what we need; transitioning from who we were to who we’re becoming. That can be uncomfortable both for us and can make the people who have become accustomed to who we’ve been uncomfortable as we grow into who we were meant to be.”