Andrew Olle

John Andrew Durrant Olle
Born	1947-12-28 Hornsby, Sydney, Australia
Died	1995-12-12
Occupation(s)	Broadcaster, journalist
Years active	1967–1995
Known for	Work with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation; Four Corners; Sunday; The 7.30 Report; ABC Radio Sydney
Notable work	Coverage of police raid on Cedar Bay hippy commune; Morning radio show on ABC Radio Sydney; Investigative journalism on police corruption; Andrew Olle Media Lecture (named in his honor)

John Andrew Durrant Olle (28 December 1947 – 12 December 1995) was a prominent Australian broadcaster known mainly for his work with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Early and personal life

Born in Hornsby, Sydney, Olle was the sole offspring of Major John Durrant Olle, a World War II radio telegraphist, and Marie Jose née Ifwersen, a court reporter originally from New Zealand with French and Danish ancestry. The couple married in 1947. Following his father's return to military service in 1948, the family resided in England for three years before spending a year in Darwin, after which his parents separated. Custody remained with his father, who enrolled him in several private boarding schools including Geelong Grammar Preparatory, Ivanhoe Grammar School, and Albury Grammar School. During school terms, Olle had limited weekend visits with his mother and spent holidays alternating between both parents.

At twelve, after his father remarried, Olle relocated to Melbourne and attended Mornington High School. Though previously an accomplished student, he adopted a rebellious attitude to fit in with peers and left school at fifteen. He took on various jobs and was briefly imprisoned following a break-in; he later acknowledged that support from a parole officer played a key role in his rehabilitation.

In 1964, Olle moved to Brisbane alongside his mother and stepfather, boarding at Brisbane Grammar School for his final year of secondary education. He was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to pursue Arts-Law at the University of Queensland but departed after one year.

On 24 April 1969, he wed nurse Annette Longfield Olle (née Marjason) at St Thomas' Anglican Church, Toowong. The couple had three children: two sons, Nick and Sam, and a daughter named Nina.

Career

Olle commenced his professional journey at the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) in Brisbane as a cadet on 27 November 1967. Between 1969 and 1970, he worked in Townsville before returning to Brisbane where he contributed mainly to the Queensland version of This Day Tonight from 1971 until 1977, including a period based in Melbourne from 1973 to 1974. In 1976, he garnered national recognition for his coverage of a police raid on the Cedar Bay hippy commune. This report earned him the "Outstanding Contribution to TV Journalism" accolade at the Logie Awards of 1977 and was part of an investigative series uncovering police corruption within the Joh Bjelke-Petersen administration.

Subsequently relocating to Sydney, Olle contributed to national ABC programs such as Four Corners (1977–78), Nationwide (1979–1980), and A Big Country (1981). He joined the Nine Network for the debut of Sunday, working there from 1981 until 1985. Returning once more to ABC, he resumed duties on Four Corners between 1985 and 1994, winning a Penguin Award for Best Current Affairs Presenter in 1987 and leading election coverage broadcasts. That same year marked the start of his popular morning radio show on ABC Radio Sydney (then known as 2BL), where his political dialogues with Canberra correspondent Paul Lyneham created a well-loved comedic partnership.

In early 1995, Olle transitioned from Four Corners to host the New South Wales edition of The 7.30 Report, a live daily interview program, while maintaining his morning radio slot. This dual commitment resulted in grueling workdays lasting up to fifteen hours. During that year, he experienced occasional memory lapses on air and was dismissed when The 7.30 Report expanded into a national format. His radio show was rescheduled for late afternoon drive-time in 1996—a change he welcomed but did not live to see implemented.

Illness, death, and legacy

On 7 December 1995, Olle suffered a collapse at his residence in Greenwich caused by a brain haemorrhage associated with an undiagnosed glioblastoma multiforme. He was subsequently admitted to Royal North Shore Hospital for neurosurgical intervention. Life support was discontinued on 11 December, and at 5:17 pm AEDT that same day, his radio station 2BL mistakenly announced his death based on an erroneous faxed notice; this announcement was promptly withdrawn. Olle passed away the next day at the age of 47. On 13 December, New South Wales Premier Bob Carr, himself a former ABC journalist, formally expressed condolences in the state parliament. Olle’s cremation took place on 15 December at Northern Suburbs Crematorium, followed by a memorial service broadcast nationwide from Sydney Town Hall on 22 December. For this occasion, composer Peter Sculthorpe arranged a special version of his piece Parting.

The Andrew Olle Memorial Trust was created to support research in brain cancer and neurosurgery. In addition, the ABC has hosted the annual Andrew Olle Media Lecture since 1996 and established the Andrew Olle Scholarship to assist ABC journalists under the age of 25, both in tribute to him. In 2018, Olle was honoured posthumously with induction into the Australian Media Hall of Fame.

Further reading

• Andrew Olle, Robert Pullan, On Interviewing, ABC Enterprises, 1992, ISBN 0733300561
• Annette Olle, Paul Lyneham (eds.), Andrew Olle, 1947–1995: A Tribute, University of New South Wales Press, 1996, ISBN 0868402559