Roland Harvey is one of Australia's best-loved illustrators admired for his humour and intriguing, detailed art work. In 1978, he established Roland Harvey Studios and designed a wonderful range of greeting cards, posters and stationery with a distinctively Australian flavour. Successful ventures in to children's books soon followed as did demand for him to visit schools and share his love of books and illustration with children everywhere. Roland was the recipient of the 2005 Dromkeen Medal in recognition of his achievements.
Roland can run general sessions focussing on watercolour painting, caricature, illustrating generally, publishing and life as an author.
He can also run more detailed sessions if genuinely interested focussing on drawing techniques (e.g. composition, perspective, cross-sections).
"I guess the broadest description I could give of my work is that it is about Australian culture. Observations, and maybe even contributions to it.
I started during 5th year Architecture, publishing Christmas cards to pay the bills, trying to get the essence of an Australian Christmas onto a piece of card about 120 x 80mm square. Is it about nostalgia? The bush? The beach? The city? Reunions, family gatherings? Probably all the above; anyway it worked.
I got into the publishing business and spun off into books for kids. My interest in history, science, a bit of philosophy and a lot of the funny stuff guided my publishing career and after 35 years, a hundred books, stamps, posters and the odd conservation-cause T-shirt I'm still at it. I think it is almost more important now than ever, with the influences of the internet, the new conservatism and global marketing of books all putting pressure on our culture and what kids get to read.
My work in illustrating Australia has made me more aware of the Australian culture and landscape, both in detail and in overview. I have had to look at our shape, our colour and our texture. I have come to understand what a treasure we have in its' richness, diversity and integrity. I truly believe we must preserve it and one of the aims of my books is to show it off to others. There are also a lot of references to science, maths, history, health and self-esteem.
As a kid I was very lucky growing up both in the city and in the country. As an old kid I have a great love for both.
I care a lot about environment and design issues, and paint with watercolour and draw for fun as well as work. I enjoy outdoor sports and camping music and food, and if I did nothing else I would like to awaken people to the beauty of life on our little planet".
Roland Harvey entertaining students at the 2013 Voices on the Coast Festival.
Testimonials
Roland Harvey is a wonderful author/illustrator and interpreter of many of our favourite Australian fictional and historical stories.
Roland engaged well with all our primary students who thoroughly enjoyed hearing about all his books. They enjoyed his masterclass on how to draw and his use of watercolour to illustrate stories. Excellent.
St Brendan's Primary School Somerville - March 2019Roland Harvey was FANTASTIC! My favourite Author Visit so far!!
Many thanks for organising this - the students and staff really enjoyed it.
Roland Harvey - St. Augustine
Featured Speakers
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| Speaker | Location | Tour dates | Book now |
|---|---|---|---|
Melbourne | 25 Jun - 27 Jun 2025 | ||
Newcastle | 01 Jul - 02 Jul 2025 | ||
Gold Coast / Brisbane | 14 Jul - 24 Jul 2025 | ||
Brisbane / Gold Coast | 22 Jul - 25 Jul 2025 | ||
Brisbane | 23 Jul - 25 Jul 2025 |
What people are saying
Stephany Steggall won the Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship in 2013. She accepted the award at Adelaide Writers’ Week in front of a large audience. By 2015 Stephany had written “Interestingly Enough: The Life of Tom Keneally”, acknowledged as a well-researched and highly acclaimed biography. The biography was launched in Sydney by Geraldine Doogue, with Tom Keneally in attendance. Stephany spoke compellingly about the process of writing her book. In 2016 three Fellowship winners talked at the Whe [...]
...Kirsty Eagar was great. The girls, especially in year 11, really enjoyed listening to her. I would definitely recommend her as an inspirational speaker especially for students year 10 and above.
Belinda’s presentation style was very suitable for our students. She connected well with all year levels and understood how to engage them. I was very impressed with her style personable and very approachable for students. I would welcome Belinda again to speak to our students.
"Shannon provided such a great perspective on how to write in this particular genre (kids & picturebooks), as I normally write fiction drama. Great tips and great knowledge." "Loved Shannon's workshop. I ended up making sure that a picture book will be my next project!" "Shannon was very honest in her presentation - she provided many examples of what to look for in a good picture book and suggestions for writing. She was very generous with her advice. A fantastic presentation!" "Great f [...]
We just had Anne E Stewart visit for our grade 3s and 4s at Eltham North Primary School. She was absolutely fantastic! The children and staff alike were mesmerised by her story telling and richness of stories. Please pass on our greatest thanks to her for such an inspiring and wonderful gift.
Jenny Wang helped us kick off a week long celebration of learning as part of Catholic Week activities at Jubilee Primary. With Jenny's expertise, all students successfully created their own manga characters, inspiring some students to submit art work for the school's mini Art Show. Jenny's own passion for using animation to spread positive community messages could be a great starter for students building their own community message.
Andrea was a great speaker. She engaged her audiences, across multiple ages in each session. She was approachable, articulate and her content was appropriate for each group. On the lead up to the event, Andrea made contact and went out of her way to tailor her speeches to suit our themes and ethos. She was considerate and thoughtful. I would not hesitate to recommend her as a speaker.
I was very happy with Deborah Abela and James Roy’s presentations. They related well to all the students from the young grade sixers through to the senior year twelves. Students found them humorous and very engaging. I would definitely recommend them to any school.