The Welsh rocker, who played keyboard in the now-defunct band, has revealed he feared for his life when he found himself being stalked by the large predator during a half-marathon run through Point Mugu State Park.

Oliver fought the animal off with a large stick and hurled rocks at it to enable him to make his escape.

He later described the terrifying encounter in a lengthy post on Instagram.com, writing, "I'd decided not to wear headphones. This one thing alone probably saved my life... I noticed a rustling sound over my left shoulder... It adopted a low profile as it moved toward me. Now the first thing that came to mind was 'Aww beautiful cat like the ones in the zoo' swiftly followed by a daunting realisation of the danger I was in.

"I knew a little about what to do but couldn't remember all. I faced the creature and got as big as I could... The floor was littered with decent size sticks and hand sized rocks. As quickly as possible I dropped to grab a large stick and swung it around violently. The lion came at me as I bent down but halted again as I swung the stick... We kept a distance of about 30 feet and I decided to fight back with rocks... Most rocks came within inches of the cat. At first it seemed confused but each rock bought me a few feet...

"The lion decided to try and flank me from the upper ground to the side of the trail but I backed up at the same pace and continued to hurl rocks... The second I lost sight of the lion in the mist, I sped up my retreat still facing the threat. The most ominous part of the whole event was that the lion pursued and stalked me for over two miles... I carried that rock and stick for 10 miles back to the road and turned others (runners) around that were heading that way... I am blessed that my instincts and keeping my wits about me allowed for my safe passage."

Oliver's band Lostprophets split in 2013 shortly before their frontman Ian Watkins pleaded guilty to a string of sickening sex offences, including the attempted rape of a baby. They returned as a new act called No Devotion.