Ollie Olsen

Ian "Ollie" Olsen (born 1958) is a composer, synthesist and sound designer from Melbourne. He has been producing and performing rock, electronic and experimental music for over thirty years. Olsen is well known for his 1989 collaboration with Michael Hutchence in the band, Max Q and co-founding the alternative electronic music record label, Psy-Harmonics, with Andrew Till.

History

Olsen began his forays into electronic music as a teenager in the mid-1970s, studying with Felix Werder. He has gone on to produce a large body of work, ranging from experimental work to film and television soundtracks, pop and dance music, installation projects and creating record labels.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s. He formed a series of punk and post-punk bands, as leader and vocalist, as well as being a key figure in the Melbourne little band scene. His punk bands included The Reals and The Young Charlatans (with guitarist Rowland S. Howard). He formed a series of confrontational post-punk bands beginning with Whirlywirld, which also began a long period of collaboration with drummer John Murphy (from Whirlywirld through Hugo Klang, Orchestra of Skin and Bone, NO and finally Max Q).