Brian O'Brien (journalist)

Biography

Brian O'Brien was born in 1922 and attended Marist Newtown and St Patrick's College in Wellington. His childhood passion for sports focused heavily on boxing and wrestling, with cricket and rugby also capturing his interest. He participated in youth boxing before moving into journalism after finishing school, spending time at The Evening Post newspaper. During World War II, he served with the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

In 1948, O'Brien married Valerie McNicol, and the couple had two sons. The following year, he launched the magazine Sports Digest, where his coverage of boxing, cricket, and rugby earned high praise. In 1960, he authored Kiwis with Gloves On, a book detailing the history of boxing in New Zealand.

O'Brien became the first New Zealander to serve as a boxing judge at the Commonwealth Games level and remained on the international judges panel for many years. After qualifying as a judge in 1958, he was later appointed by the International Boxing Association and officiated at the 1962 and 1974 Commonwealth Games. He served as president of the Wellington Boxing Association, represented the New Zealand National Boxing Council, and sat on the executive of the New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association. Boxing New Zealand called him a "legendary identity" who had done more to advance boxing at both professional and amateur levels than anyone else in the first century of the New Zealand Boxing Association.

O'Brien's brother, Gerald O'Brien, was a Wellington City Councillor from 1965 to 1971 and became a Member of Parliament in 1969. In the 1971 local-body election, Gerald replaced his brother on the Labour Party ticket for the city council and won. He was re-elected in 1974 and 1977, but did not seek re-election in 1980 due to ill health.

Ill health also forced Brian O'Brien to stop publishing Sports Digest in 1979, after three decades. He died on 1 May 1982 at the age of 59.

Honours and awards

Brian O'Brien held life memberships in both the Wellington Boxing Association and the St Patrick's Old Boys' Cricket Club, and had been approved for a life membership with the New Zealand Boxing Association before his death. He also served as a Justice of the Peace. Since 1983, the New Zealand Amateur Boxing Championships have presented the Brian O'Brien Trophy each year for services to boxing. Additionally, the Brian F O'Brien Memorial Prize in Sports Journalism has been awarded annually since 2012 to a Massey University Graduate Diploma in Journalism student who submits a portfolio of their two best sports articles.