Olsen, John

Olsen, John (b Newcastle, NSW, 21 Jan. 1928).
One of Australia's leading abstract painters, active mainly in Sydney. In 1957–60 he travelled in Europe, where his work was strongly influenced by the Expressionism of the Cobra group and the totemic imagery of Alan Davie, whom he met in London. Back in Australia, he applied the lessons he had learned to an imaginative exploration of the bush landscape, notably in his series Journey into You Beaut Country (1961), in which lively calligraphic brushwork evokes a feeling of vegetation and insect life. In 1972 Olsen painted a mural for the newly completed Sydney Opera House, and in 1978 he made an extensive painting tour of Africa.