Andrew Olle

John Andrew Durrant Olle (28 December 1947 – 12 December 1995), always known as Andrew Olle, was a radio and television presenter on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, beginning his career in 1967 as a news cadet and, until his death, working in a wide variety of programs, including The 7.30 Report, ABC Radio 2BL, Sydney, Nationwide, Four Corners and A Big Country. It was also at 2BL that he met and worked with his long-time friend Paul Lyneham.

Olle was born in Hornsby, New South Wales, the son of John Durrant Olle (1912–1975),^[1] and died in 1995 in Sydney from a brain tumour (glioblastoma multiforme) which was not diagnosed until he was rushed to hospital following a massive stroke and collapse. He never regained consciousness and died within a week, on 12 December. He was survived by his wife, Annette, and children Nick Olle, Sam and Nina.^[2] On 13 December, in the NSW State Parliament, the Premier of New South Wales Bob Carr, himself a former ABC journalist, moved a formal condolence motion on Olle's death.^[3] For his Memorial Service in the Sydney Town Hall on 22 December, Peter Sculthorpe wrote a special arrangement for cello and piano of his 1947 work Parting, dedicated to Olle, which was played by Nathan Waks and Kathryn Selby.^[4]

Legacy[]

The was established to raise money for brain cancer and neurosurgery research. The Andrew Olle Media Lecture is an annual lecture held by the ABC in his honour.

Sources[]

• About Andrew Olle, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 15 October 2003 [1]
• Helen Pitt, A cancer with still no cure in mind, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 December 2005 [2]
• Chris Masters, "Olle, John Andrew (1947–1995)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, 2019 [3]

References[]