Olive O'Brien - Author - Cork Independent News

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Olive O'Brien - Author

Written by Staff Reporter

Thursday, 19 November 2009

Like the character of her new and first book, Perry the Playful Polar Bear, the Glanmire native left her comfort zone and was set adrift in a world of adventure. But her journey led her to university, a newspaper in India, an around-the-world trip and a children's book, as well as the establishment of her own publishing company. While she had a passion for the English language in her youth, Olive said that she found herself studying law after secondary school.

"It just sort of happened and seemed like a sensible idea at the time." Olive qualified in 2002, when she was 24-years-old, after almost seven years of studying. The years that followed were spent practicing conveyance, personal injury and family law. While she enjoyed the challenges of courtroom drama, Olive found herself tapping her desk and looking for a new challenge.

"When I was working in courtrooms, sometimes my eyes would glance across at the court reporters and I longed to have their exciting job instead of mine," she says. "I'm not saying that law was uninteresting, it was an exciting career. I was just tired of it."

With legal documents, meetings and court work surrounding her, Olive eventually felt burnt out and ready for a change. "It was a scary decision to make as I had invested so much time and money into my career but I decided to leave law. I signed up for a Masters in Journalism at DCU. "I loved college and it was so great to identify with other students. It was a new freedom for me."

Her first article was printed in the Sunday Business Post, a paper for which she still writes. "Seeing my by-line under my story was such a thrill for me. This fuelled me to continue." Olive then travelled to Bangalore in India on a six-week work placement with a local newspaper, where the personal injuries claims of Ireland would be laughed at. "I once fell off a motorbike when the photographer and I were on our way to a story. Over there, you just dust yourself down and are thankful that you can get back on the bike in one piece," she laughs.

"It was my first time out of Europe too which was such a culture shock and I will always remember reporting on issues regarding slum children. The fact that I had sold my coupe and now travelled to work in a rickshaw was also a huge change."

But the travel bug had bitten, and was to lead her further on her world tour. Starting her tour in Northern India, she travelled to Vancouver, Seattle, Hawaii, Sydney, Singapore and Malaysia, before returning to India in 2008.

She was happy to come home in October 2008, where she studied creative writing in UCC and was inspired to write her first book, a short tale of a curious and kind hearted polar bear.

"My mother is a primary school teacher, so while I was working in law, I was dabbling in writing by creating little stories for my mother's pupils," Olive says, adding that she kept a journal of her travels too. She recently set up Silver Angel Publishing in Rochestown and says she is already working on more books for older children.

"I will never regret the time I spent practicing law, because it's part of my journey. But I'm thrilled that I made the opportunity happen and am so proud of my first book." Perry The Playful Polar Bear is €8.99 and can be purchased at www.oliveobrien.com.