Penelope Diane Olsen (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.
She has published extensively on raptors, and was involved in the conservation work on Norfolk Island for the Norfolk Island Boobook. She was President of the Australasian Raptor Association 1984–1989.
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.
Olsen published several award winning books on science, and was editor of Wingspan, an ornithology magazine published by Birds Australia. 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."
Bibliography
Books
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. (pbk) Olsen, Penny. (2012). Our Nest is Best!, National Library of Australia: Canberra. (hbk) Olsen, Penny. (2013). Have You Seen My Egg?, National Library of Australia: Canberra. (pbk)
Articles François Le Vaillant.
Ferdinand von Mueller.
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Awards
1996 - Whitley Award, Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales 1997 - D. L. Serventy Medal, Birds Australia 2011 - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) 2019 - Fellow, BirdLife Australia
References
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.