We present new results on the auto- and cross-correlation functions of galaxies and O VI absorbers in a ∼18 Gpc3 comoving volume at z < 1. We use a sample of 51 296 galaxies and 140 O VI absorbers in the column density range 13 ≲ log N ≲ 15 to measure two-point correlation functions in the two dimensions transverse and orthogonal to the line of sight ξ(r⊥, r∥). We furthermore infer the corresponding ‘real-space’ correlation functions, ξ(r), by projecting ξ(r⊥, r∥) along r∥, and assuming a power-law form, ξ(r) = (r/r0)−γ. Comparing the results from the absorber-galaxy cross-correlation function, ξag, the galaxy autocorrelation function, ξgg, and the absorber autocorrelation function, ξaa, we constrain the statistical connection between galaxies and the metal-enriched intergalactic medium as a function of star formation activity. We also compare these results to predictions from the EAGLE cosmological hydrodynamical simulation and find a reasonable agreement. We find that: (i) O VI absorbers show very little velocity dispersion with respect to galaxies on ∼ Mpc scales, likely ≲100 km s−1; (ii) O VI absorbers are less clustered, and potentially more extended around galaxies than galaxies are around themselves; (iii) on ≳100 kpc scales, the likelihood of finding O VI absorbers around star-forming galaxies is similar to the likelihood of finding O VI absorbers around non-star-forming galaxies; and (iv) O VI absorbers are either not ubiquitous to galaxies in our sample, or their distribution around them is patchy on scales ≳100 kpc (or both), at least for the column densities at which most are currently detected.