Keith Ovenden

Keith William Ovenden ONZM (6 August 1943 – 23 June 2023) was an English novelist and biographer.[1][2][3][4]

Keith Ovenden

ONZM
Ovenden in 2013
Ovenden in 2013
Born(1943-08-06)6 August 1943
London, England
Died23 June 2023(2023-06-23) (aged 79)
Alma materUniversity of Oxford
Spouse
Helen Sutch
​
(m. 1971)​
Academic background
ThesisThe renationalisation of the iron and steel industry, 1964–67: a study in legislative politics (1971)

Ovenden was born on 6 August 1943[5][6] in London, where he was also raised. He was educated at Wanstead County High School. He went on to study for degrees at the University of Keele (United Kingdom), University of Michigan (United States) and the University of Oxford.[7] He started his career lecturing at the University of Essex in the Department of Government, and later taught political sociology at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, before becoming a full-time writer in 1982.[7][8]

Ovenden first visited New Zealand in 1966 as a member of the British Universities debating team, and returned in 1972 as a post-doctoral fellow at Victoria University of Wellington.[8] He achieved prominence in New Zealand during the 1970s for his commentaries on politics and media.[8] This prominence extended into the 1980s, with his reporting on the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior in 1985 standing out.[9] He was married to Helen Sutch, daughter of Bill Sutch and Shirley Smith.[10]

Ovenden chaired the board of trustees of the New Zealand Portrait Gallery from October 2012 to December 2018. He was involved with the organisation for 13 years. Since 2019, an annual lecture is given in honour of Ovenden's work for the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, with him giving the inaugural lecture.[9]

Ovenden was appointed Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2020 New Years Honours, for services to the arts.[8]

Ovenden died on 23 June 2023, at the age of 79.[11]

Books
Academic
  • Apartheid and International Finance: A Programme for Change, Penguin, 1989. (With Tony Cole.)
Novels

Ovenden published four novels:[9]

  • Ratatui, 1984.
  • O.E., 1986.
  • The Greatest Sorrow, Penguin, 1998. ISBN 0-241-13977-5. (Set in Oxford.)
  • Quick Bright Things, Hamish Hamilton, 2000. ISBN 0-241-14087-0
Biography

References
  1. Date information sourced from Library of Congress Authorities data, via corresponding WorldCat Identities linked authority file (LAF).
  2. "Keith Ovenden (b. 1943)". Oxford Reference. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  3. Robinson, Roger; Wattie, Nelson, eds. (1998). "Ovenden, Keith". The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195583489.
  4. "Keith Ovenden (person)". New Zealand: Victoria University of Wellington. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  5. Who's Who in the World. Marquis. 1990. p. 813. ISBN 9780837911106. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  6. "Keith William Ovenden". Companies House. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  7. "Keith Overden". nz.penguinclassics.com. Archived from the original on 27 March 2006. Retrieved 27 March 2006.
  8. "Keith Ovenden | Massey University Press". www.masseypress.ac.nz. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  9. "Dr Keith Ovenden ONZM". New Zealand Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  10. "Bill Sutch and Shirley Smith: a memoir by Keith Ovenden". Radio New Zealand. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  11. "Keith Ovenden obituary". The Post. 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  12. Carroll, Mark (Winter 1997). "A Fighting Withdrawal: The Life of Dan Davin, Writer, Soldier, Publisher". Publishing Research Quarterly. Vol. 13, no. 4. New York. pp. 68–70.
  13. "Bill & Shirley: A Memoir, Keith Ovenden". masseypress.ac.nz. New Zealand: Massey University Press. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  14. Boyce, S. A. (19 October 2020). "Between a personal memoir and a biography – Bill and Shirley, A Memoir by Keith Ovenden". Flaxroot Productions. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
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