702 ABC Sydney has announced that Harold Mitchell, Chairman and CEO of Mitchell and Partners, will deliver the 702 ABC Sydney Andrew Olle Media Lecture for 2003.
Formerly National Media Director of DMB&B, Mitchell left his position in 1976 to start the company that is now the largest independently owned media agency in Australia, controlling some 20% of all the advertising dollars in Australia. Mitchell and Partners was one of the first media specialist agencies in the world and services the interests of over 50 advertising agencies worldwide.
In December 2000 he launched the Harold Mitchell Foundation. This is a philanthropic foundation to distribute funds between Health and the Arts. In December 2002 Deakin University conferred on him an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.
702 ABC Sydney Manager Roger Summerill said: “702 ABC SYDNEY is very pleased to have Mr Mitchell as our speaker for 2003. Mr Mitchell is ideally placed to comment on the Australian and international media arena and we are confident his views will provide a unique insight into all levels of the industry. Mr Mitchell’s acceptance of the invitation reinforces the position of the Andrew Olle Media Lecture as the pre-eminent industry event of the year”.
Mitchell follows in the footsteps of a long line of distinguished Olle Lecture speakers, including Lachlan Murdoch, Kerry Stokes AO, Eric Beecher, Steve Vizard, John Alexander, Jana Wendt and David Williamson.
The Andrew Olle Media Lecture is named in honour of the respected and much-loved ABC broadcaster Andrew Olle who died of a brain tumour in 1995.
With its key focus on addressing the role and future of the media as well as profiling the work of the Andrew Olle Memorial Trust, the event has grown in stature annually since its inception in 1996 and is now recognised as “the most significant media event of the year” (The Australian, 16 November 2000). The Andrew Olle Memorial Trust raises money for research into neuroscience, with an emphasis on brain tumours.
The lecture will be delivered at a black tie reception on Friday 24 October in the Ballroom of the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour. 702 ABC SYDNEY Mornings presenter Sally Loane will host the event. Mr Mitchell’s lecture will be broadcast nationally on ABC TV that evening and throughout Sydney on 702 ABC SYDNEY on Saturday 25 October. The lecture will also be audio-streamed on abc.net.au/sydney.