From the longer Wikipedia page [1]
Olney is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Milton Keynes, England, with a population of around 6,000 people. It is also part of the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire. It lies on the River Great Ouse, very close to the borders with Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire and equidistant from Northampton, Bedford and Milton Keynes with easy access to the M1 at Junction 14 (approximately seven miles) and with fast train links to London from Milton Keynes Central or Bedford (each approximately twelve miles distant). It is a popular tourist destination perhaps best known for the Olney Pancake Race (run since at least 1445) and for the Olney Hymns by William Cowper and John Newton.
First mentioned as Ollanege in 932, the town has a history as a lace-making centre, and as the place where the Olney Hymns were written. John Newton, author of the hymn Amazing Grace was curate of Olney and is buried here. His guest was William Cowper (English poet and hymnodist (1731–1800)) and the town hosts the Cowper and Newton Museum dedicated to them. The museum was William Cowper's actual house, and was given to the town in 1905 by the publisher William Hill Collingridge (who had been born in the house himself). Newton was succeeded as curate here by the biblical commentator Thomas Scott (1747–1821).