Olivia Newton-John has had a successful international singing and acting career which has spanned more than thirty years. Some of her well-known songs include 'Let Me Be There' (1973), 'I Honestly Love You' (1974), 'Physical' (1981). Albums include Main Event (Anthony Warlow and John Farnham) 1998. She starred in the films Grease 1978, Xanadu 1980 and Two of a Kind. She established the business Koala Blue in 1986 with a long time friend, Pat Farrar, but it collapsed in 1992, the same year in which she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
She overcame the disease and continues to support cancer research and is committed to environmental causes. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 30 December 1978 for services to the performing Arts.
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Australian Women's Register
Popular singer and actor, Olivia Newton-John, is best known for her timeless performance in the hit film musical Grease. Born in Cambridge, England, Newton-John moved to Melbourne at the age of five. She showed an early interest in singing and formed a quartet called Sol Four at the age of fifteen. In 1963 she appeared on the popular TV show, Sing, Sing, Sing, hosted by Johnny O'Keefe and won a trip to London where she appeared as a cabaret duo with Pat Carroll. In 1966 Newton-John recorded her first single for Decca Records, a version of Jackie De Shannon's Till You Say You'll Be Mine. She went on to join the group Toomorrow [sic], the brainchild of Don Kirschner, creator of The Monkees. Toomorrow released their self-titled debut album in 1970 and starred in a movie of the same name. Newton-John achieved popular success in 1971, with a country-music version of Bob Dylan's If Not For You. Her 1973 release Let Me Be There attained gold album status and she was awarded a Grammy Award as Best Country Vocalist in 1973. Before re-locating to the U.S. she represented the U.K. in the 1974 Eurovision song contest and came fourth. Later in the year, the single I Honestly Love You was released in the U.S., reaching No.1 in the charts. In 1978 Newton-John became an international star after co-starring with John Travolta in Grease. The film soundtrack featured a number of Travolta and Newton-John duets, and included the hits Summer Nights, Hopelessly Devoted To You and You're The One That I Want. She won the American People's Choice Award for Favourite Motion Picture Actress in 1979 and went on to star in Xanadu (1980), Two Of A Kind (1983) and It's My Party (1996). Her successes continued with the No. 1 hit Physical in 1981 and three further Grammy Awards. In 1990 Newton-John was appointed goodwill ambassador to the United Nations Environment Program. The 1990s saw her successfully overcame a battle with breast cancer, which inspired her song-writing debut Gaia: One Woman's Journey (1994). With the release of her album, Back With A Heart in 1999, she returned to work as a performer and toured extensively in the U.S. after many years. Newton-John sang the duet, Dare to Dream with John Farnham at the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympics and soon after released her only live album, One Woman's Live Journey, followed by Magic - The Very Best of Olivia Newton-John, which celebrated thirty years of recording. In 2002, Olivia was inducted into the ARIA Hall Of Fame. She is also well known for her charity work and business ventures marketing Australian products internationally.
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