Ian O'Brien - Out of The Pool

Out of The Pool

At age 21, O'Brien retired after the 1968 Olympics, so he could concentrate solely on making a living. Since his father's death in 1962, O'Brien's swimming career had caused substantial financial stress for his family, with his mother having to sell the family home to make ends meet. O'Brien had also been forced to leave high school before he had completed his leaving certificate, so that he could support the family's income by wrapping parcels. Television and camera work had always interested O'Brien, and he secured a job as a stagehand for Channel Nine after returning from the Tokyo Olympics, which he held for more than ten years. He then worked for Channel Ten for two years, before working for an independent production company for another two years. In 1979, he started Videopak, which became one of the largest privately owned television documentary companies in Australia. Videopak's sound stages were used by public and private television companies.