John Olsen: podcast appearances and interviews

John Wayne Olsen AO, born on 7 June 1945, is an Australian politician, diplomat, and football commissioner. He served as the Premier of South Australia from November 1996 to October 2001 and was the longest-serving Liberal Party of Australia Premier of South Australia. Olsen was twice the parliamentary leader of the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia in the House of Assembly, first from 1982 to 1990 and again from 1996 to 2001. He led the party during the 1985 and 1989 elections but was unsuccessful in both campaigns. After the 1989 election, he left the South Australian parliament to fill a casual vacancy in the Australian Senate. Olsen returned to the state parliament in 1992 but was defeated for the Liberal Party leadership by Dean Brown. In 1996, he challenged Brown successfully for the party leadership and became Premier, leading the party to a narrow victory at the 1997 election, a position he held until 2001 when he resigned following revelations that he had misled parliament during the Motorola affair. Olsen's career also includes work as a diplomat and political lobbyist. He has served as the State President of the South Australian Liberal Party twice, once from 1976 to 1979 and again starting in June 2017. Recognized for his service, Olsen was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in January 2007. In more recent years, he has been involved in sports administration as chairman of the Adelaide Football Club and deputy chairman of the Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority.