Nicholas Grant Dean (born 1952) is a leading Australian sport administrator and wine industry consultant. Dean has made a significant contribution to the Australian Paralympic movement.

Personal

Dean's father Henry who died in 2008 was born in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, fought in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and was a ski instructor. Dean has three children and lives in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Business career

Dean became involved in the

Australian wine The Australian wine industry is one of the world's largest exporters of wine, with approximately 800 million out of the 1.2 to 1.3 billion litres produced annually exported to overseas markets. The wine industry is a significant contributor ...

industry through his father. His family has vineyards in the Adelaide Hills and is a major supplier of grapes to Petaluma Wines (

Lion Nathan Lion is an alcoholic beverage company that operates in Australia and New Zealand, and a subsidiary of Japanese beverage conglomerate Kirin. It produces and markets a range of beer and cider in Australia, and wine in New Zealand and the Unite ...

). He is chair of Project Wine, which provides "crush" services. He is currently employed by

Colliers International Colliers is a Canada-based diversified professional services and investment management company with approximately 18,000 employees in more than 400 offices in 63 countries. The firm provides services to commercial real estate users, owners, inv ...

as a specialist consultant to the Australian wine industry. Dean has stated that Colliers has provided support to allow him to dedicate time to the Paralympic movement.

Skiing

Dean's involvement in skiing was through his father Henry who took him to the

Australian Alps The Australian Alps is a mountain range in southeast Australia. It comprises an interim Australian bioregion,0042-5184 However, the moth has also been a biovector of arsenic, transporting it from lowland feeding sites over long distances int ...

in 1963. In 1972, after completing university, Dean moved to

Thredbo Ski Resort Thredbo is a village and ski resort in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, situated in a part of the Snowy Monaro Regional Council, and has been operated by Event Hospitality and Entertainment since 1987. It is approximately ...

to work as a ski instructor. He was a ski instructor for ten years working in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

ski resorts during the Australian summer. Whilst working at Thredbo he became involved with people skiing with a disability including

Ron Finneran Ronald James Finneran Order of Australia, OAM (born 1944) is an Australian Paralympic athlete and sports administrator, from Merimbula, New South Wales. Skiing career Finneran was born in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Marou ...

. In 1978, he was at the inaugural meeting to establish the Australian Disabled Skiers Federation (ADSA) which was later called Disabled Winter Sport Australia. He was President of Disabled WinterSport Australia from 1990 to 2004 and 2008-2009, Treasurer from 2005 to 2007. In 1975, a founding member and the first Vice President of the Australian Professional Ski Instructors Association, a position he held between 1975 and 1980. Since 2007, he has been a member of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Alpine Skiing Sport Technical Committee.

Australian Paralympic Committee

In 1992, he joined the Board of the

Australian Paralympic Committee Paralympics Australia (PA) previously called the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) (1998–2019) is the National Paralympic Committee in Australia for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the preparation and management of Australian tea ...

, a position that he has held continuously except for 1995. He was Vice-President from 2000 to 2013. He was Chef De Mission for the Australian Winter Paralympic Games teams that competed at the 1994 Lillehammer Games, 1998 Nagano Games, 2002 Salt Lake City Games and Assistant Chef de Mission at Australian Winter Paralympic Games teams at 1992 Albertville Games, 2006 Torino Games, 2010 Vancouver Games and Australian Summer Paralympics teams at

2004 Athens Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

and 2008 Beijing Games. In 2005, the Committee awarded him the Paralympic Medal for his commitment to sport for people with a disability. In February 2017, he was appointed Chef de Mission for Australian Team at the 2018 Winter Paralympics.

Recognition

Dean has been recognised for his work, receiving several awards including: *2000 -

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

*2002 - Contribution to Skiing Award, Australian Ski Federation *2005 - Paralympic Medal in 2005 for his commitment to sport for people with a disability. *2014 - Medal of the Order of Australia *2015 - Australian Paralympic Medal

References

External links

Nick Dean interviewed by Mick Fogarty in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies Oral History Project, National Library of Australia, 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Nick Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Living people 1952 births Paralympics Australia officials