Frank Kenneth Rickwood

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(1921–2009) was an Australian businessman in the oil industry. He worked for BP from 1956 to 1980, serving as the President of BP Alaska from 1969 to 1980. He later served as the Chairman of Oil Search, focusing on oilfields in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

Early life

Frank Rickwood was born in 1921 in

Cessnock, New South Wales Cessnock is a city in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about by road west of Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle. It is the administrative centre of the City of Cessnock Local government in Australia, LGA and was named after a ...

, Australia. His father, George Rickwood, was an English immigrant to Australian who worked as the editor of the ''Cessnock Eagle'' and correspondent for the ''

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

''. His mother was Elizabeth. Rickwood was educated in a convent in Nulkaba and the Cessnock High School. He graduated from

University of New England University of New England may refer to: * University of New England (Australia), in New South Wales, with about 18,000 students * University of New England (United States), in Biddeford, Maine, with about 3,000 students See also *New England Colle ...

in 1945.

Career

Rickwood was a lecturer of geology at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

. He also worked for Oil Search, making research trips to

. Rickwood worked for BP (formerly known as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company) from 1956 to 1980. He developed oilfields in

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

, Central America and South America. As the President of BP Alaska from 1969 to 1980, he oversaw the expansion of the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field. Rickwood served as the Chairman of Oil Search in the 1980s. In that capacity, he discovered the Kubutu Oil Field in Papua New Guinea. Rickwood served on the Boards of Directors of

Ampol Ampol Limited is an Australian petroleum company headquartered in Sydney, New South Wales. Ampol is the largest transport energy distributor and retailer in Australia, with more than 1,900 Ampol-branded stations across the country . It also ope ...

, Pioneer International and Peko Oil. He authored ''The Kutubu discovery: Papua New Guinea, Its People, the Country and the Exploration and Discovery of Oil'' in 1992. Rickwood was the 1993 recipient of the Haddon Forrester King Medal from the Australian Academy of Science. Additionally, he was made an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

herself aboard the ''

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

''.

Personal life

Rickwood was gay. He lived with his partner, Justin Rainey, until the latter died in the early 1990s. However, he was

closeted ''Closeted'' and ''in the closet'' are metaphors for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and other (LGBTQ+) people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and human ...

in the workplace. When he was John Browne's boss in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, both men were in the closet and neither knew that the other was gay. Rickwood resided at

Minimbah House Minimbah House is a heritage-listed mansion in Whittingham near Singleton, New South Wales. Construction c 1870 W.J. Dangar who was living at Neotsfield at the time, thought of pulling down the house and building a new one and had plans drawn ...

, a historic mansion near Singleton, New South Wales. In the 1990s, he moved to the Colleton Great House, a plantation mansion in Saint Peter, Barbados. He was a significant art collector. Rickwood was diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

in 2004.

Death

Rickwood died on 19 July 2009 in Barbados. His funeral took place at St Peter's Church in Speightstown, Barbados on 28 July 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rickwood, Frank 1921 births 2009 deaths Australian people of English descent University of New England (Australia) alumni 20th-century Australian geologists Academic staff of the University of Sydney Australian businesspeople in the oil industry BP people Australian corporate directors Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People with Parkinson's disease Gay businessmen Australian gay men Australian LGBT businesspeople 20th-century Australian LGBT people People from Cessnock, New South Wales