Oliver Brown

I graduated as an archaeologist (BA Hons) in 2000 from Sydney University. After a three year stint in Oxford UK as a field archaeologist and museum educator, I returned to Sydney and have worked in Aboriginal cultural heritage management ever since. Previous roles have included research at Sydney University, Principal Archaeologist at Total Earth Care, a sole trader through Oliver Brown Consulting Archaeology (OBCA) and Senior Archaeologist at AHMS (now Extent), working across a wide range of projects and scales.

 

During this time, I held several positions in the Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists, including NSW Chairperson, have been active in the Australian Archaeological Association (conference papers, session chair and journal peer-reviewer) and published multiple papers.

 

In 2014, I founded Associates Archaeology & Heritage, initially involving collaborative projects with other heritage consultants and ecologists. Increasingly, I have come to specialise in initial due diligence field assessments and heritage management advice in my local area and from 2023 have made it my core focus.

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Born and raised on Sydney's North Shore and resident in the Eastern Suburbs for over twenty years, a lifelong fascination with the Aboriginal and natural heritage of our saltwater sandstone (Katungal) country and how people have (and still do) engage with it has led to a unique specialist understanding of what it is, where it is, and – most importantly – how to manage it.

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This includes good working relationships with the two Local Aboriginal Land Councils in the area (La Perouse and Metropolitan LALCs), well over a decade’s experience working to the requirements set by our coastal Sydney local councils and a detailed understanding of the overarching context of NSW legislation (most particularly the National Parks and Wildlife Act and the Due Diligence Code of Practice for the Protection of Aboriginal Objects in New South Wales that it empowers).