Margaret Olley

Who was Margaret Olley?

Margaret Hannah Olley AC was an Australian painter. She was the subject of more than 90 solo exhibitions.

Margaret Olley was born in Lismore, New South Wales. She attended Somerville House in Brisbane during her high school years. She was so focused on art that she dropped one French class in order to take another art lesson.

Her work concentrated on still life. In 1997 a major retrospective of her work was organised by the Art Gallery of New South Wales. She received the inaugural Mosman Art Prize in 1947.

On 13 July 2006 she donated more works to the Art Gallery of New South Wales; her donations included more than 130 works worth $7 million.

Olley died at her home in Paddington in July 2011, aged 88. She never married and had no children.