The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate

O’CHEE, William George (1965– )
Senator for Queensland, 1990–99 (National Party of Australia)

Bill O’Chee was an unconventional parliamentarian: at twenty-four years of age he was the youngest person to sit in the Senate, the first with Chinese ancestry to be elected to the federal Parliament, and he was an Australian representative in world championship skeleton races, an extreme one-person form of bobsledding. O’Chee sometimes sported a bright pink tie and drove an expensive Lotus Elise sports

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O’CONNOR, Richard Edward (1851–1912)
Senator for New South Wales, 1901–03 (Protectionist)

The first Leader of the Government in the Senate, Richard EdwardO’Connor, was born at Glebe, Sydney on 4 August 1851, the son of Richard O’Connor, librarian of the New South Wales Legislative Council and later Clerk of the Parliaments, and Mary Ann, née Harnett. He attended St Mary’s College, Lyndhurst, and Sydney Grammar School before entering the University of Sydney where, in 1870, he

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O’FLAHERTY, Sidney Wainman (1886–1967)
Senator for South Australia, 1944–62 (Australian Labor Party)

A Labor man who believed in ‘the gospel of socialism’, and who affirmed that it had been his lifelong theme to obtain social justice for the workers, Sid O’Flaherty was once expelled from the South Australian Labor Party. A decade later he was the party’s state president, a member of the Federal Executive, and number one on the ticket for the Senate, where he

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O’HALLORAN, Michael Raphael (1893–1960)
Senator for South Australia, 1928–35 (Australian Labor Party)

Michael Raphael O’Halloran, who travelled the outback to meet and make friends with swagmen, labourers, railway men and graziers, once said that it was easy ‘for a man to be a politician’, but ‘hard for a politician to be a man’. He was born on 12 April 1893 at Yanyarrie, near Carrieton in South Australia. His father, James Andrew O’Halloran, was a farmer of

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O’KEEFE, David John (1864–1943)
Senator for Tasmania, 1901–06, 1910–20 (Australian Labor Party)

In May 1901, the Melbourne Age in describing the men of the new Federal Parliament referred to Senator O’Keefe of Tasmania as ‘a moderate Labor representative, a moderate protectionist and a moderate believer in many other things’.[1]David John O’Keefe was born, probably on 21 August 1864, at Longford, Tasmania, to David John O’Keefe, farmer, and Mary Ann, née McCullagh. After leaving Carrick State School

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O’LOGHLIN, James Vincent (1852–1925)
Senator for South Australia, 1907, 1913–20, 1923–25 (Australian Labor Party)

James Vincent O’Loghlin, the only senator to be on active service in World War I, was born at Gumeracha, in the Adelaide Hills, on 25 November 1852, the son of James O’Loghlin and his wife Susan, née Kennedy. His father, who was a farmer, had emigrated to South Australia from County Clare, Ireland, in 1840. O’Loghlin spent the first half of his life in

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O’SULLIVAN, Sir Michael Neil (1900–1968)
Senator for Queensland, 1947–62 (Liberal Party of Australia)

Solicitor and company director, Michael Neil (known as Neil) O’Sullivan was born on 2 August 1900 at Toowong, Queensland, the fifth child of Queensland-born parents, Patrick Alban O’Sullivan, a 37‑year‑old solicitor, and his wife Mary Bridget, née Macgroarty, twenty-nine, from Gympie. Neil was a descendant of an Irish Catholic family. His grandfather, Patrick (1818–1904), was a soldier, transported in 1838 for retaliating with his

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O’BYRNE, Justin Hilary (1912–1993)
Senator for Tasmania, 1947–81 (Australian Labor Party)

Justin Hilary O’Byrne was a World War II fighter pilot and prisoner of war, and President of the Senate during the 1975 constitutional crisis. He was born on 1 June 1912 in Launceston, Tasmania, the seventh of ten children. His father, Patrick Augustus O’Byrne, a wine and spirit merchant in Launceston, was the son of Irish migrants who had settled at Westbury. His mother,

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OAKES, Charles William (1861–1928)
Senator for New South Wales, 1913–14 (Liberal Party)

Charles William Oakes, jeweller, was a senator for one year and a New South Wales parliamentarian for more than twenty. He was born at Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, on 30 November 1861, the son of James Richard Oakes, a storekeeper from Lancashire, and his wife, Agnes Jane, née Revelle. In 1870, the family moved to Sydney, where Charles was educated at Paddington Superior

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ODGERS, James Rowland (1914–1985)
Clerk of the Senate, 1965–79

James Rowland Odgers, ‘the Odgers of the book’ and the eighth Clerk of the Senate, was largely self-educated. This was a key to his work. He was free of the prevailing and fashionable academic dogmas of his time. Instead, he learned his political science from the proceedings of the first constitutional conventions and the debates of the early Senate. He thereby anticipated by some

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OGDEN, James Ernest (1868–1932)
Senator for Tasmania, 1923–32 (Australian Labor Party; Independent; Nationalist Party)

James Ernest Ogden, miner, unionist and man of independent spirit, was born at Durdidwarrah, near Geelong, Victoria, on 8 March 1868, son of Robert Ogden, miner and farmer, and Hannah, née Fenby. Educated at Steiglitz State School, James later worked for his father growing grain and raising pigs, and also began training as a primary schoolteacher, though he never practised as a teacher due

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OLSEN, John Wayne (1945– )
Senator for South Australia, 1990–92 (Liberal Party of Australia)

John Wayne Olsen, Liberal Party Premier of South Australia 1996–2001, served two years in the Senate from 7 May 1990, when he filled a casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Tony Messner. A colourful backgrounder in the Australian on 29 November 1996, the day after he became Premier of South Australia, argued that there was a defining moment in Olsen’s life when

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ORMONDE, James Patrick (1901–1970)
Senator for New South Wales, 1958–70 (Australian Labor Party)

James Patrick Ormonde, miner and journalist, was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, on 23 March 1901, the son of Jeremiah Ormonde and Bridget, née Reilly. Ormonde came to Australia with his family at an early age, and grew up in Kurri Kurri on the New South Wales northern coalfields. He was educated at Marist Brothers College, West Maitland. On leaving school, he became, like his

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O’CHEE, William George (1965– )
Senator for Queensland, 1990–99 (National Party of Australia)

O’CONNOR, Richard Edward (1851–1912)
Senator for New South Wales, 1901–03 (Protectionist)

O’FLAHERTY, Sidney Wainman (1886–1967)
Senator for South Australia, 1944–62 (Australian Labor Party)

O’HALLORAN, Michael Raphael (1893–1960)
Senator for South Australia, 1928–35 (Australian Labor Party)

O’KEEFE, David John (1864–1943)
Senator for Tasmania, 1901–06, 1910–20 (Australian Labor Party)

O’LOGHLIN, James Vincent (1852–1925)
Senator for South Australia, 1907, 1913–20, 1923–25 (Australian Labor Party)

O’SULLIVAN, Sir Michael Neil (1900–1968)
Senator for Queensland, 1947–62 (Liberal Party of Australia)

O’BYRNE, Justin Hilary (1912–1993)
Senator for Tasmania, 1947–81 (Australian Labor Party)

OAKES, Charles William (1861–1928)
Senator for New South Wales, 1913–14 (Liberal Party)

ODGERS, James Rowland (1914–1985)
Clerk of the Senate, 1965–79

OGDEN, James Ernest (1868–1932)
Senator for Tasmania, 1923–32 (Australian Labor Party; Independent; Nationalist Party)

OLSEN, John Wayne (1945– )
Senator for South Australia, 1990–92 (Liberal Party of Australia)

ORMONDE, James Patrick (1901–1970)
Senator for New South Wales, 1958–70 (Australian Labor Party)

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