Author: Ian Olver

Ian Olver graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1976 being subsequently awarded an MD in 1991 for a project on clinical trial methodology. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP), its Chapter of Palliative Medicine (FACh PM) and is a member of the Royal Australian College of Medical Administrators (MRACMA). He completed a Ph D from Monash University in bioethics in 1997 (supervised by Peter Singer), exploring life and death issues and a Certificate of Ministry (Lay Preaching) at the Adelaide College of Divinity. He initially trained in medical oncology at Peter Mac Callum Cancer Institute, the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne and the University of Maryland Cancer Centre in Baltimore. He worked for 6 years at the Peter Mac Callum Cancer Institute where he jointly developed the oncology clinic at Bendigo Base Hospital and then moved to Adelaide becoming the Clinical Director, Royal Adelaide Hospital Cancer Centre and the first Cancer Council SA Professor of Cancer Care at the University of Adelaide and is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Medicine. There he established the first oncology clinic in Alice Springs and developed a telemedicine link for multidisciplinary cancer care between Adelaide and Darwin. He also trained the first oncologist for the Christian Medical College Hospital Vellore, India. In May 2006 he was appointed CEO, Cancer Council Australia, a Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Sydney and is an Honorary Associate, Department of Medical Oncology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. He has published over 180 articles in journals, 16 book chapters and 2 books: Conquering Cancer. Your Guide to Treatment and Research, and Is Death Ever Preferable to Life? and co-edited When Cancer Crosses Disciplines: A Physicians Handbook. After serving on several ethics committees in Victoria and South Australia and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Ethics Committee, and chairing the Cancer Institute NSW Research Ethics Committee for multi-centre cancer trials, he now sits on the Australian Health Ethics Committee of the NHMRC and chairs the Medical Oncology Group of Australia Ethics Committee. He previously served on The Australian Drug Evaluation Committee (ADEC) and the Cancer Strategies Group of the Australian Government and chaired the Medical Oncology Group of Australia (MOGA). He now serves on the Board of the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre, the executive of the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia and the Advisory Board of Cancer Australia and the Community and Preventative Health Committee of NH+MRC. In 2008 he was awarded the Cancer Achievement Award by MOGA.