Penny Olsen

Penny Olsen
Penny Olsen in 2013
Born	1949 (age 75–76)
Nationality	Australian
Scientific career
Institutions	Australian National University

Penelope Diane Olsen AM (born 1949) is an Australian ornithologist and author.

Career

Olsen worked with CSIRO as an experimental officer and an Honorary Research Associate, as well as being an ARC Postdoctoral Fellow at the Australian National University. ^[1]

She has published extensively on raptors, ^[2] and was involved in the conservation work on Norfolk Island for the Norfolk Island Boobook. ^{[3] [4]} She was President of the Australasian Raptor Association 1984–1989. ^[1]

In 1997 she was awarded the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union's D.L. Serventy Medal for excellence in published work on birds in the Australasian region. ^[5]

Olsen published several award winning books on science, and was editor of Wingspan , an ornithology magazine published by Birds Australia. ^[6] She was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2011 for "service to the conservation sciences as an author and researcher, and through the study and documentation of Australian bird species and their history." ^[7]

Bibliography

Books

• Olsen, Penny, ed. (1993). Australian raptor studies. Australasian Raptor Association Conference (Canberra, 1989). Moonee Ponds, Vic.: Australasian Raptor Association, Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union.
• — (1995). Australian birds of prey : the biology and ecology of raptors. Sydney: UNSW Press.
• — (2001). Feather and brush : two centuries of Australian bird art. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing.
• — (2005). Wedge-tailed eagle. Australian Natural History Series. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing.
• Olsen, Penny (2007). Glimpses of paradise : the quest for the Beautiful Parakeet. Canberra: National Library of Australia.
• Olsen, Penny. (2010). Upside Down World: Early European Impressions of Australia's Curious Animals, National Library of Australia: Canberra.
• Olsen, Penny. (adapted). (2010). The Best Nest, National Library of Australia: Canberra. ISBN   978-0-642-27704-6 (pbk) ^[a]
• Olsen, Penny. (2012). Our Nest is Best!, National Library of Australia: Canberra. ISBN   978-0-642-27737-4 (hbk) ^[b]
• Olsen, Penny. (2013). Have You Seen My Egg?, National Library of Australia: Canberra. ISBN   978-0-642-27788-6 (pbk) ^[c]
• — (2014). An eye for nature : the life and art of William T. Cooper. Canberra: NLA Publishing.
• — (2015). Louisa Atkinson's nature notes.

Articles

• Olsen, Penny (March 2009). "The independent ornithologist". The National Library Magazine. 1 (1). National Library of Australia: 18–20. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2022. ^[d]
• — (December 2010). "Nature seems determined to have a bit of a play". The National Library Magazine. 2 (4). National Library of Australia: 2–7. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
• Braby, Michael & Penny Olsen (December 2011). "A flutter of butterflies". The National Library Magazine. 3 (4). National Library of Australia: 8–10. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
• Olsen, Penny (June 2013). "Appealing to the ladies". The National Library Magazine. 5 (2): 12–15. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2025. ^[e]
• — (March 2015). "Of moths and King-Parrots : on the trail of a colonial natural history artist". The National Library of Australia Magazine. 7 (1): 24–27. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
• — (June 2015). "Sidney William Jackson : collector and tree-climber" (PDF). The National Library of Australia Magazine. 7 (2): 12–15.
• — (December 2015). "Farewell William Thomas Cooper, 1934–2015". The National Library of Australia Magazine. 7 (4): 24–27.

———————

Notes

1. "2010, English, Book, Illustrated edition: The best nest / adapted by Penny Olsen". www.nla.gov.au. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
2. "2012, English, Book, Illustrated edition: Our nest is best! / Penny Olsen with Penny O'Hara". www.nla.gov.au. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
3. "2013, English, Book, Illustrated edition: Have you seen my egg? / Penny Olsen ; illustrated by Rhonda N. Garward". www.gov.au. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
4. François Le Vaillant.
5. Ferdinand von Mueller.

Awards

• 1996 - Whitley Award, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales ^[1]
• 1997 - D. L. Serventy Medal, Birds Australia
• 2011 - Member of the Order of Australia (AM)
• 2019 - Fellow, BirdLife Australia

References

1. Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology. "Olsen, Penelope Diane - Person - Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation". www.eoas.info. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
2. "Penny D. Olsen". Research Gate. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
3. Olsen, Penny D. (1996). "Re-establishment of an endangered subspecies: the Norfolk Island Boobook Owl Ninox novaeseelandiae undulata". Bird Conservation International. 6 (1): 63–80. doi: 10.1017/s0959270900001313 . ISSN   0959-2709.
4. Kleiner, Rick (26 November 2021). "Now You See It… The Norfolk Island Boobook Owl – Discover Norfolk Island" . Retrieved 7 October 2023.
5. "Ornithologist with a hands-on approach to conservation". The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 January 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
6. Kennedy, Patricia L. (22 July 2021). "Biography of Dr Penelope (Penny) Diane Olsen AM; renowned ornithologist and author of books on Australian ornithological art and ornithological history" . Pacific Conservation Biology. doi:10.1071/PC21025. ISSN   2204-4604.
7. "Dr Penelope Diane OLSEN - Member of the Order of Australia". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 7 October 2023.

• Anon. (1997). D.L. Serventy Medal 1997: Citation. Penelope Diane Olsen. Emu 97: 262.
• Robin, Libby. (2001). The Flight of the Emu: a hundred years of Australian ornithology 1901–2001. Carlton, Vic. Melbourne University Press. ISBN   0-522-84987-3

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