Sydney-born Richard Walsh (b. 1941) is an Australian publisher, journalist, broadcaster, editor, lecturer and company director. While studying arts and medicine at Sydney University in the 1960s, Walsh was part of a group of students who made an indelible mark on Australian culture, co-founding and co-editing the underground publication OZ magazine with Richard Neville and Martin Sharp. The magazine's content, which was pioneering in covering topics such as police brutality, homosexuality, censorship, the White Australia Policy, sexual oppression, Sydney's underworld and the Vietnam war, faced heavy criticism. So polarising was OZ that it led to Walsh, Neville and Sharp being prosecuted on charges of obscenity in mid-1963 and again in 1964. Walsh went on to found and edit POL magazine in 1968 while simultaneously working as Creative Group Head at J Walter Thompson advertising. In 1971 he founded the Sunday Review, later renamed the Nation Review. Appointed to Angus & Robertson as a chief executive in 1972, he remained in this role for fourteen years. Senior executive positions at Australian Consolidated Press and a position as commissioning publisher for Allen & Unwin followed. A founding member of the Literature Board of the Australian Council and president of the Australian Book Publishers' Association, Walsh has also held chairperson positions with various public bodies including the Australian National Commission for UNESCO and Nimrod Theatre. In addition to his career as a publisher, Walsh is the author of numerous books including Reboot (2017) and has written for both television and stage.
