Art of living under a shadow
After appearing on ABC’s Australian Story with his family and buoyed by the success of his recent memoir Son of the Brush, Tim Olsen has a newfound confidence.
Writing his autobiography was about more than just getting the final product out there. The act of writing it in solitude over several years was an undertaking in practising art he had once thought he might never be capable of.
Olsen’s father, John, is one of Australia’s most famous, commercially successful artists. Now 93, he has an OBE, has won the Archibald Prize, his work has been hung in all of Australia’s most prestigious galleries and his Salute to Five Bells adorns an entire wall of the Sydney Opera House.
But being the child of someone often described as a “living legend” is not without its challenges. Olsen’s childhood took him from travelling Europe to living in a commune in rural Victoria with no electricity. The family was seemingly bounced to and fro by John’s search for inspiration and space to paint.
Since Son of the Brush was released, Olsen has been touched to receive letters from people who relate to what he’s been through.
“Some have said it has helped them realise that you
