Kerry O'Brien Travels from Gold Coast, QLD

Topics

Facilitator
Government / Politics
Master Of Ceremonies
Media

Email Profile Print Profile

Kerry O’Brien is one of Australia’s most distinguished and respected journalists with six Walkley Awards for excellence in journalism including the Gold Walkley, and the Walkley for Outstanding Leadership.

His 50-year career has covered print, television and wire service, as a reporter, feature writer, columnist and foreign correspondent. He has specialised in national politics for the ABC, as well as the Ten and Seven networks, and was press secretary to Labor leader Gough Whitlam.

For ABC-TV he was the editor, presenter and interviewer for the 7.30 Report over 15 years, the presenter and interviewer at Four Corners for five years and at Lateline for six years. He has interviewed many world leaders including Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, as well as many influential figures in the arts, science and business. For 20 years he was also the face of the ABC’s election night coverage.

Kerry’s acclaimed four-part interview series with former Prime Minister Paul Keating was broadcast on the ABC in 2013, and his best-selling book expanding on those conversations was published in 2015. His memoir was published late in 2018. He is also chair of the Walkley Foundation which promotes excellence in journalism and was inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame in 2019.