Ronald Harvey

This article is about the public servant and sports administrator. For the Australian Rules footballer, see Ron Harvey.

Ronald George Harvey, AM, CVO, (born 9 June 1934) [1] is a former senior Australian public servant and sport administrator. He was the third Director of the Australian Institute of Sport, serving in the role from 1987 until 1989.[2] Harvey was born in Subiaco, Western Australia and attended Perth Boys High School.[1] He left school at the age of fourteen.

Sporting career

He moved to Canberra in 1960 and became involved in basketball from a playing, coaching and administrative perspective. In 1967, he played a major role in the Australian Capital Territory breaking away from New South Wales basketball.[2] In 1979, he was involved with the establishment of the Canberra Cannons basketball team and between 1981 to 1986 acted as the club's chairman and general manager.[2] He was the National Basketball League(NBL) chairman from 1983 to 1987.[1] He left this position in 1987, when appointed the third Director of the Australian Institute of Sport. His time at the AIS was challenging on two fronts, due to the merger of the AIS with the Australian Sports Commission with the latter organisation taking responsibility for federal government administration of sport.[2] Shortly after his arrival at the AIS, there was a Senate inquiry into drugs in sport which examined allegations against AIS staff and athletes. After leaving the Australian Sports Commission as Executive Director in 1989, he became Chief Executive Officer of the Gold Goast Cougars NBL team until 1991.[1][3] In 1993, he was appointed a member of the Australian Olympic Committee's board and since 2001 has been its Vice President.[4] In 1997, he was President of Basketball Australia.[5] From 2004 to 2007, he was a Director of Football Federation Australia. He organised the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay leg in Australia.[2] In 2009, he was the first Australian to be awarded the International Olympic Committee's Pierre de Coubertin medal in recognition to his contribution to the promotion of the Olympic spirit.[4] In receiving the award Harvey commented "I have enjoyed every minute of my involvement. It has been a fantastic continuing journey. The athletes make you proud to be an Australian and make all your efforts worthwhile." [4] Also in 2009, he was appointed one of the chief envoys of Australia's FIFA 2018-2022 World Cup bid.[6]

Public Service Career

Harvey started his Australian Public Service career as a junior clerk in the Department of the Army at Swan Barracks in Perth.[2] His notable public service appointments have included Senior Private Secretary to Minister for Capital Territories (1976–1978), Assistant Commissioner within the Public Service Board (1978–81), Commonwealth Director for the Royal Visit by the HM Queen Elizabeth in 1981, Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, Hon. Malcolm Fraser from 1982 to 1983, Executive Director for the National Tax Summit in 1985, Director of the Australian Institute of Sport / Australian Sports Commission from 1987 to 1989, Administrator Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands from 1997-1998 and Australian Consul General in Chicago from 2001 to 2003. Harvey noted that the highlight of his public service career was working as private secretary to Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser who he described as a "great prime minister and very challenging to work for".[2]

Recognition

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Who's Who in Australia 2010. Melbourne: Crown Content. 2010. p. 981.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Peter Kogoy (2 April 2009). "Ron Harvey just can't hang up his boots". The Australian. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
  3. ↑ Callaghan, Graham (28 April 1990). "Big plans for Cougars". Sun Herald.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Former AIS Director Ron Harvey awarded Olympic Honour". Australian Sports Commission News. 2 April 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  5. ↑ Johnson, Phillip (1 March 1997). "Basketball gets new president". The Age.
  6. ↑ Migliaccio, Val (14 November 2009). "FIFA bid envoys named". The Advertiser.
  7. ↑ "Harvey, Ronald George, CVO". It's An Honour Website. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  8. ↑ "Harvey, Ronald George, OAM". It's An Honour Website. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  9. ↑ "Harvey, Ronald: Australian Sports Medal". It's An Honour Website. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  10. ↑ "Harvey, Ronald: Centenary Medal". It's An Honour Website. Retrieved 8 February 2013.

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