Ollie Olsen | Long Play Series

Composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and visionary Ian ‘Ollie’ Olsen has been at the forefront of Australian electronic and experimental music innovation since the 1970s. As a teenager growing up in Blackburn, Melbourne, Olsen studied under avant-garde composer Felix Werder learning the principles of electronic music and sound synthesis. Throughout his career he has performed and recorded with many influential groups including Young Charlatans and early electronic outfit Whirlywirld where he combined synthesisers with rock-inspired guitars and drums. Olsen was at the forefront of the Melbourne ‘Little Bands’ scene which embraced artists from many different disciplines and continued this approach with subsequent endeavours including Orchestra of Skin and Bone, industrial techno band, NO, and collaborations with local and international artists such as Nick Cave, Paul Grabowsky, and U2. In the 1980s, Olsen began composing for film and television, and was the music director for Richard Lowens