Dr Penny Olsen ‘An Eye for Nature: The Life and Art of William T. Cooper’

Natural History artist William T. Cooper has been described by David Attenborough as ‘arguably one of the greatest of all bird artists’. Bill’s biographer, Penny Olsen, talks about his surprising path in life, his development as an artist and his close collaboration with his wife, botanist Wendy Cooper. Bird art may be Bill’s claim to fame, but his landscapes and botanical art evidence a much broader talent.

Dr Penny Olsen is an Associate Professor in the Research School of Biology at the Australian National University. She has written a number of books on Australia's natural history and its practitioners; which include, “Flocks of Colour”, “Collecting Ladies: Women Botanical Illustrators”, “Upside Down World: Early European Impressions of Australia’s Curious Animals”(National Library of Australia 2010) and “Stray Feathers: Reflections on the Structure, Behaviour and Evolution of Birds” (CSIRO Publishing 2010).