AOC: For over 20 years Doug Donoghue AM has watched over the finances of the Australian Olympic Committee and as he prepares to stand down he has been awarded life membership of the AOC as a fitting tribute to his contribution to the Olympic Movement.
AOC: For over 20 years Doug Donoghue AM has watched over the finances of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and as he prepares to stand down he has been awarded life membership of the AOC as a fitting tribute to his contribution to the Olympic Movement.
His involvement in sport started as a rower at Sydney Boys High and later as a rower and coach at Sydney Rowing Club.
Outside of sport he made his mark in the oil industry where he became an Executive Director of Ampol Limited. That experience enabled him rise to the top of the AOC holding key positions in the finance area.
In 1993 he was based in Paris as a key member of the lobby team trying to win Sydney’s bid for the 2000 Olympic Games. He helped develop the Sydney 2000 Candidature Budget and later monitored the SOCOG budget for the AOC.
“After being involved in the Melbourne bid and the disappointment of missing out on the Games, it was a tremendous thrill to be part of Sydney’s success,” he said.
In 1993 he became a member of the Executive Board of the AOC. He is currently the Chairman of the AOC Finance Commission, a member of the AOC Audit Committee and a member of the AOC Remuneration & Nominations Committee.
The Australian Olympic Foundation (AOF) has been one of Donoghue’s greatest involvements. He has been a member of the AOF Investment Advisory Committee since its inception in 1996. Since the 2000 Sydney Games, Donoghue and the Investment Advisory Committee have grown the capital base of the AOF from $109m to $121.4m. But more importantly, during that time, the AOF has made distributions of $81.5m to the AOC for the benefit of Australian athletes competing at the Olympic Games.
“It has been extremely rewarding to work with my colleagues on the Investment Advisory Committee,” he said. “For them to raise $81m for the benefit of athletes is a great achievement and I thank them for their wise counsel.”
All through his time at the AOC, Donoghue has worked closely with the AOC President, John Coates, who is also Chairman of the Foundation.
“For over two decades Doug has been key to the AOC’s financial operations,” Coates said. “He has kept his involvement very low key but his contribution has played a major role in the success of Australia’s Olympic Teams.”
His support of Australia’s Olympic athletes started way back in 1983 when he became the Deputy Chair of the NSW Olympic Council’s dedicated Fundraising Committee - a position he still holds today - taking in Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. During this time the NSW Olympic Council has raised in excess of $15 million for Australian Olympic Teams.
That resulted in Life Membership of the New South Wales Olympic Council in 2012.
Donoghue is also a Member of the Venue Advisory Committee of Sydney International Regatta Centre; former Director of Rowing Australia, former Vice President of the NSW Rowing Association; previous Member of the Trust, State Sports Centre, and previous Member NSW Sports Advisory Council.
Prior to his role on the AOC’s Executive Board, Donoghue was a rowing commentator for ABC Radio at the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games and commentator for Network 10 for rowing and canoeing at Los Angeles 1984 Games and again in Seoul in 1988.
He will now have more time to spend at his beloved Bondi Beach.
AOC
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