In April 2008, he temporarily retired from music to dedicate himself to his family. In 2010, Mercury Records, under the Universal label, began reissuing and remixing his greatest albums from the 1970s, incorporating previously unreleased material and concerts from the 1980s, of great interest to his fans.

He also collaborated with various artists on several albums, such as Amazon Tribe, a soundtrack album for a television program hosted by Bruce Parry. He also collaborated with the electronic music group York on a track for their album Islanders and with his brother Terry Oldfield on his album Journey Into Space, where he participated in three tracks.

However, Oldfield didn't return to full productivity until the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, for which he collaborated with Danny Boyle, creating a new 12-minute version of his well-known album Tubular Bells with the addition of "In Dulci Jubilo" and a piano solo. He presented it at the televised event to millions of viewers. This led to the release of new Oldfield compilations: Two Sides: The Very Best Of Mike Oldfield, Classic Album Selection (Six Albums 1973-1980), and Music From The Opening Ceremony. During the ceremony, it was announced that Tubular Bells had reached an official sales figure of 29 million copies worldwide that year, peaking at number 6 on the UK charts.