Biographical entry Olsen, Albert Mervyn (1917 - 2008)

Summary

Mick Olsen was Director of Fisheries and Chief Fisheries Officer, South Australia (1967-79). He previously worked as a bacteriologist and biologist with the CSIR/CSIRO (1942-63) and is an authority on school shark fisheries.

Details

Born Launceston, Tasmania, 27 November 1917. Educated University of Tasmania (BSc, 1940; MSc, 1946). Medical bacteriologist and biochemist, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Sydney University, 1941-42. Bacteriologist (research officer) CSIR Division of Food Preservation and Transport, Homebush, 1942-46. Biologist (senior research officer) CSIR/CSIRO Division of Fisheries and Oceanography, Hobart, 1946-63. Harvesting manager and research biologist, Alginates (Aust.) Pty Ltd, Orford, Tasmania, 1963-67. Permanent Head and Director, Fisheries and Fauna Conservation Department, South Australia, 1967-72. Director of Fisheries, South Australia, 1972-73. Director of Fisheries Research and Acting Director of Fisheries, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, South Australia, 1973-76. Chief Fisheries Officer, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, South Australia, 1976-79. Retired 1979. Inaugural Chairman (1992-93) and member Board of Directors (1993-98), Ducks Unlimited (Wetland Care Australia).

Related entries

Archival resources

State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana

• Interview with Mick Olsen (sound recording), interviewer: Evelyn Wallace-Carter, October 1978, OH 301/2; State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana. Details
• Interview with Mick Olsen (sound recording), interviewer: Evelyn Wallace-Carter, 7 February 1985, OH 301/35; State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana. Details
• Interview with Mick Olsen (sound recording), interviewer: Jack Darcey, 29 January 1990, OH 146/14; State Library of South Australia, Mortlock Library of South Australiana. Details

Published resources

Book Sections

• Olsen, A.M., 'Field Station - Tasmania', in Mawson, Vivienne, Tranter, David J. and Pearce, Alan F. (eds), CSIRO at Sea: 50 Years of Marine Science, CSIRO Marine Laboratories, Hobart, 1988, pp. 39-42. Details
• Pearce, Alan, '"Stowell" and the Squatters', in Mawson, Vivienne, Tranter, David J. and Pearce, Alan F. (eds), CSIRO at Sea: 50 Years of Marine Science, CSIRO Marine Laboratories, Hobart, 1988, pp. 43-48. Details

Edited Books

• Fenner, Frank (ed.), History of Microbiology in Australia, Australian Society for Microbiology, Melbourne, 1990, 624 pp. p.224. Details

Journal Articles

• Morgan, Helen, 'A.M. (Mick) Olsen', Australasian Science, vol. 21, no. 3, 2000, p. 46. Details
• Olsen, A. M., 'Fishery Management: the prawn fishery of South Australia: the real story of its establishment', Professional Fisherman, vol. 3, 1981, pp. 37-40. Details
• Olsen, A.M., 'Recollections - 1946 to 1978', SAFIC, vol. 3, no. 3, 1979, pp. 15-18. Details

Online Resources

• 'Olsen, A M', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-484205. Details

See also

• Rees, A. L. G., 'Ian William Wark 1899-1985', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 6, no. 4, 1987, pp. 533-548. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9870640533.htm. Details
• Wallace Carter, Evelyn, 'For They were Fishers: the History of the Fishing Industry in South Australia', Amphitrite Pulishing House, Adelaide, 1987, p. 408. pp. 208, 209, 211, 212, 235, 240, 258, 296, 319, 320, 323, 324, 339, 390, 394. Details