O'Kane was born in Philadelphia PA but now lives in Glenullin near Garvagh. He is a cousin of fellow Derry and Glenullin players Paddy and Eoin Bradley. The Bradleys' father, Liam is an uncle of O'Kane. O'Kane's father, also called Gerard, has served as chairman of the Derry County Board in the past.
Football career
Club
O'Kane plays club football for John Mitchel's Glenullin. O'Kane won the Derry Senior Football Championship with the club in the Derry SeniorFootball Championship of 2007. Glenullin met Bellaghy in the final, and, after a replay, won the title. He won the man of the match award for his performance in the final replay. Earlier that year Glenullin won the Ulster Senior Club Football League, beating Latton of Monaghan in the final. The club reached the Ulster League final again the following year, but were defeated by fellow Derry club Ballinderry. In 2008 the club reached the final of the All-Ireland Sevens Championship, organised by Kilmacud Crokes, but lost 1-11 to 0-13 to St. Gall's, Antrim in the decider, with O'Kane scoring 0-01 in the match. He was Glenullin's goalkeeper during the tournament. Glenullin, jointly with Ballinderry, won the 2008 Derry Senior Football League.
Inter-county
O'Kane captained the Derry Minor side that won the 2002 Ulster Minor Championship and All-Ireland Minor Championship. He made his Derry Senior debut in 2004. He was part of the Derry team that won the 2008 National League where Derry beat Kerry in the final. O'Kane and Derry again reached the National League final in 2009, but were defeated by Kerry. Derry opened their 2009 Championship campaign with a win over Monaghan. However, they were defeated in the next round by Tyrone. They were drawn against Monaghan again in the first round of the Qualifiers and defeated them for the second time that year. Derry's 2009 campaign ended the following week with defeat to Donegal.
School/college
Gerard O'Kane captained St. Pat's, Maghera, to success in the 2003 MacRory Cup and Hogan Cup. These successes came months after winning the All-Ireland Minor title with Derry, becoming the first player since 1949 to captain a winning Hogan Cup team the year after captaining a victorious All-Ireland Minor side. He was awarded Ulster Colleges Football All-Stars in both 2002 and 2003. In 2007 he won the Ryan Cup and Sigerson Cup with Queens University Belfast. In 2005 and 2007 he was voted onto the Datapac Combined Universities team.
