Donough O’Brien (born 23 April 1939) is a British marketing and public relations executive and author of books containing quirky facts.

Life

O'Brien was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the son of Toby O'Brien. His father helped to run Britain's propaganda against the Nazis in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, was then the Conservative Party's first professional Public Relations officer and later PR consultant. The O’Brien family is one of the oldest lines of descent in Europe, dating back from much earlier than the Irish High King

Brian Boru Brian Boru (; modern ; 23 April 1014) was the High King of Ireland from 1002 to 1014. He ended the domination of the High King of Ireland, High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill, and is likely responsible for ending Vikings, Viking invasio ...

(941–1014). O'Brien was educated at

Stowe School The Stowe School is a public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13–18 in the countryside of Stowe, England. It was opened on 11 May, 1923 at Stowe House, a Grade I Heritage Estate belonging to the British Crown. ...

and then at university in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. He served in the

Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG) is one of the Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment (1992), Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infant ...

for four years as a National Service and then as a Short Service Officer. During the 1960s he lived in London sharing a flat with Brian Alexander (son of

Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis (10 December 1891 – 16 June 1969), was a senior and highly decorated British Army officer who served in both of the world wars. ...

) and

Patrick Lichfield Thomas Patrick John Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield (25 April 1939 – 11 November 2005), was an English photographer from the Anson family. He inherited the Earldom of Lichfield in 1960 from his paternal grandfather. In his professional practic ...

Earl of Lichfield, known as a society photographer. At this time O'Brien combined his interest in painting and motor-racing to become a motor racing artist working for

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

, BP,

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

and

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

Public relations

After a start in the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation (founded as the J. Arthur Rank Organisation) is a British entertainment conglomerate founded in 1937 by industrialist J. Arthur Rank. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the Uni ...

, O'Brien developed a broad-based marketing career in public relations, advertising, design and film-making. In 1987, his design company, Sampson Tyrrell was bought by

WPP Group WPP plc is a British multinational communications, advertising, public relations, technology, and commerce holding company headquartered in London, England. It is the world's largest advertising company, as of 2023. WPP plc owns many companie ...

, now the largest marketing group in the world. He also founded, with Chris Spring, the

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

based Spring O’Brien, a tourism and information technology marketing firm.

Writing

O'Brien also went into authoring, his first illustrated book published in 2000 being ''Fringe Benefits'', which charted the lives of both Donough and his father Toby, with a foreword by

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an Indian-born British actress, presenter, author, television producer, activist and former model. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulo ...

He followed this by ''Fame by Chance'' in 2003 which identified places all over the world which had been made famous, or infamous, by a twist of fate.Donough O'Brien ''Fame by Chance'' Bene Factum Publishing Ltd 2003

Peter Ackroyd Peter Ackroyd (born 5 October 1949) is an English biographer, novelist and critic with a specialist interest in the history and culture of London. For his novels about English history and culture and his biographies of, among others, William ...

, historian and author, in his foreword commented "I do not remember reading an anthology of places that became famous quite by chance. This book contains many such stories of fortuitous association, fascinating and surprising in equal measure. An unusual and compendious addition to the literature of famous topographies." ''Banana Skins, the slips and screw-ups that brought the famous down to earth'' was published in 2006 and ''Numeroids, any number of things you didn’t know … and some you did'' in 2008. O'Brien's uncle Turlough O’Brien was a publicist for the

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

and then the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Donough 1939 births Living people People educated at Stowe School Irish Guards officers British writers British advertising executives