Keith William Ovenden (6 August 1943 – 23 June 2023) was an English novelist and biographer. Ovenden was born on 6 August 1943 in London, where he was also raised. He was educated at Wanstead County High School. He went on to study for degrees at the

University of Keele Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a Public university#United Kingdom, public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University Coll ...

(United Kingdom), University of Michigan (United States) and the University of Oxford. He started his career lecturing at the University of Essex in the Department of Government, and later taught political sociology at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

in New Zealand, before becoming a full-time writer in 1982. Ovenden first visited New Zealand in 1966 as a member of the British Universities debating team, and returned in 1972 as a post-doctoral fellow at Victoria University of Wellington. He achieved prominence in New Zealand during the 1970s for his commentaries on politics and media. This prominence extended into the 1980s, with his reporting on the sinking of the ''Rainbow Warrior'' in 1985 standing out. He was married to Helen Sutch, daughter of

Bill Sutch Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

and Shirley Smith. Ovenden chaired the board of trustees of the

New Zealand Portrait Gallery The New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata is an art gallery located in Wellington, New Zealand, in the Waterfront Shed 11 building. History The gallery was registered as a charitable trust in 1990. In 2005 the board hired its first ...

from October 2012 to December 2018. He was involved with the organisation for 13 years. Since 2019, an annual lecture is given in honour of Ovenden's work for the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, with him giving the inaugural lecture. Ovenden was appointed Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2020 New Years Honours, for services to the arts. Ovenden died on 23 June 2023, at the age of 79.

Books

;Academic * ''Apartheid and International Finance: A Programme for Change'',

Penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

, 1989. (With Tony Cole.) ;Novels Ovenden published four novels: * ''Ratatui'', 1984. * ''O.E.'', 1986. * ''The Greatest Sorrow'',

, 1998. . (Set in Oxford.) * ''Quick Bright Things'',

Hamish Hamilton Hamish Hamilton Limited was a British book publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half-Scot half-American Jamie Hamilton (''Hamish'' is the vocative form of the Gaelic Seumas eaning James ''James'' the English form – which was ...

, 2000. ;Biography * ''A Fighting Withdrawal: The Life of Dan Davin – Writer, Soldier, Publisher'', Oxford University Press (1996). * ''Bill & Shirley: A memoir'',

Massey University Press Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural ...

(2020).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ovenden, Keith 1943 births 2023 deaths University of Michigan alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Alumni of Keele University Writers from London 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English male writers English biographers Academics of the University of Essex English male novelists English male non-fiction writers Male biographers English expatriates in New Zealand Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit