James O'Brien

Before beginning a professional career in radio, I was a teenage community radio volunteer at 2NCR-FM in my hometown, Lismore. My first paid job, aged fifteen, was answering the calls for the "Saturday Night Request Show" on my local commercial station, 2LM.

My first full-time radio job was at Outback Radio, 2WEB where I worked as a producer and presenter. I joined ABC Local Radio in 1989 as a presenter, and worked in a number of locations, including Renmark, Wagga Wagga, Canberra, and was the presenter of Statewide Afternoons, later Drive which was networked across NSW for nine years.

Since moving into management, I've taken on a range of both acting and permanent roles including that of Program Director/Content Director in Sydney and Darwin; and the role of Local Radio Manager in Western Australia and NSW.  I have also been the Content Director for nationally networked programs on ABC Local Radio and am now the Network Development Manager for ABC Local Radio. This role combines a) the co-ordination of program outputs with b) the management of network strategy for ABC Local. 

When I'm not listening to the radio, I spend far too much time on Twitter (pretty much replaced by Google+) and in updating my personal daily blog which includes travel tales and genealogical research. I'm also currently learning Swedish.