Christopher Ondaatje
Sir Philip Christopher Ondaatje,
Overview
Born in
He represented Canada in the four-man bobsled at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. Although the first Canadian men's team won gold in the event, Ondaatje's team finished 14th out of 18 teams.[2] He is a member of the Chester Yacht Club in Nova Scotia, where he owns an island with a view of Chester Harbour.[3][4]
Philanthropy
Ondaatje is a prominent philanthropist;
The Royal Society of Literature's Ondaatje Prize is named after Ondaatje,[10] as is the Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture from the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.[11]
Political donations
In 2000 Ondaatje donated £2 million to the UK Labour Party.[12]
Adventurer
After many years of success, in which Ondaatje was considered one of Toronto's most aggressive and predatory businessmen, he left the business world in 1995. He moved to Britain and began a career as a philanthropist and adventurer. Travelling through India and Africa, he also became an author, following in the footsteps of his younger brother Michael Ondaatje, a novelist. His books describe his travels and adventures.
His 2003 book Hemingway in Africa details his thesis regarding the life and motivations of Ernest Hemingway.
Honours
Ondaatje was made a
He was elected an
In 2011, he was made an Honorary Fellow of
Publications
- Olympic Victory: The story behind the Canadian Bob-Sled Club's incredible victory at the 1964 Winter Olympic Games (1967)
- The Prime Ministers of Canada, 1867–1967 (1968)
- Leopard in the Afternoon — An Africa Tenting Safari (1989)
- The Man-eater of Punanai — a Journey of Discovery to the Jungles of Old Ceylon (1992)
- Sindh Revisited: A Journey in the Footsteps of Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton (1996)
- Journey to the Source of the Nile (1999)
- Hemingway in Africa: The Last Safari (2004)
- Woolf in Ceylon: An Imperial Journey in the Shadow of Leonard Woolf, 1904–1911 (2005)
- The Power of Paper: A History, a Financial Adventure and a Warning (2007)
- The Glenthorne Cat and other amazing leopard stories (2008)
- The Last Colonial: Curious Adventures & Stories from a Vanishing World (2011)
- Ondaatje, Christopher, ed. (2013). Love Duet and Other Curious Stories about Music. Minehead, Somerset: Rare Books and Berry.
See also
References
- ^ Ancestry.com
- ^ "Innsbruck 1964 Bobsleigh Four-Man Men Results", Olympics.
- ^ Taber, Jane (14 August 2013). "Canada's largest annual keelboat regatta livens quiet N.S. town". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ Brophy, Gwenda (4 January 2008). "'I dreamt the island was for sale'". Financial Times. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
- ^ Grice, Elizabeth (17 October 2007). "Sir Christopher Ondaatje: 'I have always identified with predators'". The Daily Telegraph. London.
- ^ Jury, Louise (5 June 2001). "Ondaatje comes to the rescue of 'Literary Review'". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009.
- ^ Cricket Centre Archived 23 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine, University of Exeter, UK.
- ^ Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Canada.
- ^ Chester Playhouse Archived 9 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Canada.
- ^ Ondaatje Prize Archived 18 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine, The Royal Society of Literature, UK.
- ^ Prizes Archived 21 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Royal Society of Portrait Painters, UK.
- ^ a b McSmith, Andy (5 January 2001). "Labour reveals more £2m donors". The Daily Telegraph. London.
- ^ "Knights bachelor – full list". BBC News. London. 13 June 2003.
- ^ "Current RSL Fellows". The Royal Society of Literature. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
- ^ "Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal for Exploration". The Royal Canadian Geographical Society. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
Further reading
- Ridley, Jane (4 January 2014). "The food of love". Books. The Spectator. 324 (9671): 25. Reviews Love duet ....