Oliver Phommavanh

Oliver Phommavanh is a fresh and positive voice for multiculturalism. He's Aussie born and bred, but comes from a Thai/Laotian background.

Oliver loves to make people laugh. Back at school, Oliver was a class clown, making kids laugh and getting in trouble with teachers. Now he's a stand up comedian, still making kids laugh and sometimes getting in trouble as a casual primary school teacher.

Oliver's latest book, published August 2022 by Penguin Random House, is What About Thao?.

A funny and heartfelt novel for 10+ about a city kid in a small country town who's enjoying being the new kid at his tiny two-teacher school – until Kadir arrives and things get interesting!

In his signature style, Oliver creates a fabulously diverse and heartfelt duo in Thao and Kadir and their sometimes hilarious and sometimes heart-wrenching dilemmas of culture and belonging in a remote rural community. Throw in some slam poetry and it might just end in a lifelong friendship and a whole lot more understanding.

In 2008 Oliver was published in the Growing Up Asian in Australia anthology. He has featured on panels at the Sydney Writers' Festival, performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and has appeared on national TV and radio as well as appearing at a number of well-known comedy venues such as the Comedy Store in Sydney.

In his personal appearances and workshops, Oliver uses his stand up comic and teaching skills to deliver engaging talks with a zany edge. He uses humour and drama to communicate ideas about narrative and content, getting students to help him come up with characters and story ideas, so that they can leave with interesting idea starters to work on.

Published in June 2010 to critical acclaim, Oliver's first book - Thai-riffic! - is about a Thai kid named Lengy, who just wants to be a normal Aussie kid. He doesn't want to be Thai anymore, which proves to be a challenge, given that his parents run the best Thai restaurant in town. Oliver followed this with Con-nerd in 2011, which is a down to earth, gently funny story, inspired by some of the kids that Oliver has taught. It's about discovering your own gifts and talents while at the same time dealing with the pressure of school and family expectations.

Oliver features in two anthologies - Things A Map Won't Show You, (Penguin), and Trust Me Too, (Ford Street Publishing). His third and fourth books, Punchlines and More Thai-riffic!, were published in March and August 2012 respectively.

The Other Christy, a touching and funny tale about quirky families, sweet desserts and two girls who find out they have a lot more in common than just their name, was published June 2016 by Penguin Random House Australia.

In 2017 Super Con-nerd delivered an hilarious take on starting high school, following on from Con-nerd.

Oliver's recent titles include Don't Follow Vee in 2019, and the September 2020 release of Brain Freeze, both published by Penguin Random House.

If kids are into Morris Gleitzman and Andy Griffiths, there's an awesome chance that they'll love Oliver's wacky humour too.

---

From 2019, Oliver’s books have undergone an exciting new jacket treatment. Look out for them in stores now.