An Australian Icon of Art

Margaret Hannah Olley was born on 24 June 1923 in Lismore, northern New South Wales. Eldest daughter of Joseph Olley and Grace (nee Temperley), Margaret’s families both had long ties with the region. The Olleys were a pioneering family in the Lismore district, while the Temperleys lived in Ballina and owned the local newspaper, The Richmond River Times, during the 1880s.

Margaret’s earlier years were spent near Kyogle at the family’s Horseshoe Creek property, before moving to Tully in Far North Queensland. It was in Tully that Margaret’s sister and brother were born; Elaine in 1925 and Ken in 1927. By 1931, the Olley family had returned to the Northern Rivers region of NSW, purchasing a sugar cane farm on the banks of the