Jan O’Connell (born in 1947) is an Australian writer and food historian. She grew up in Victoria, Australia, where she initially began her career in the advertising industry. She later then published her first book, Me and My Big Mouth, which led to the creation her website entitled, "Australian Food History Timeline[1]". Her website then inspired her to publish a second book, A Timeline of Australian Food: from mutton to MasterChef[2], covering over a century worth of notable Australian food.
Early Life:
editJan O'Connell grew up in the suburbs of Malvern, Victoria, born in the year 1947. Her childhood involved growing up in the city of Melbourne during the 1950s to the 1950s, right as Australia's cuisine began to transform to a more cosmopolitan form.[citation needed]
Career:
editOne of the first jobs she took was at an advertising agency in 1965. By 1969 she became a full-time copywriter at Clemenger Group as well as wrote Kmart catalogues and radio commercials for Luna Park. Jan spent seven years writing for press, radio, magazine, and television ads for a variety of food products and services. She also spent time producing television and print campaigns for global brands like Campbells Soups, Nabisco, and Gillette.[citation needed]
In 2005, she collaborated with her husband on the launch of a magazine, Regional Food Australia, writing columns, reviews, and articles for the publication.[citation needed] O'Connell later self-published a food memoir that covered the revolution of Australian food entitled, Me and My Big Mouth. Her book then inspired her to create the website,"Australian Food History Timeline"[1], which is still currently expanding. The timeline later gave rise to a new book, A Timeline of Australian Food: from mutton to MasterChef[2], released by New South Publishing in 2017, which reviews the past century of Australian food history to the creation of the first Australian cookbook in 1860.[3] A Timeline of Australian Food: from mutton to MasterChef analyzes how what Australian's have eaten and shopped for has drastically changed[4] through major turning points like depression, war, and growth, decade by decade.
Personal Life:
editAfter spending the majority of her career in the Canberra region of Australia for approximately eighteen years, O’Connell now has relocated to inner Melbourne. She still does commercial work as well as creating content for social media platforms and websites.[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ a b "Australian Food Timeline". Australian Food Timeline. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
- ^ a b Carroll, Steven (2017-11-02). "Timeline of Australian Food review: Jan O'Connell fills a larder full of treats". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
- ^ "Aussie Food Icons - How did they begin?". ABC. 2018-01-14. Retrieved 2022-10-15.
- ^ "A Timeline of Australian Food". UNSW Press. Retrieved 2022-10-15.