Keith Ovenden

{{Short description|English writer (1943–2023)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{infobox writer

| name = Keith Ovenden

| honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=NZL|ONZM|size=100%}}

| image = Keith Ovenden 2013 (cropped).jpg

| image_upright = yes

| alt =

| caption = Ovenden in 2013

| birth_date = {{birth date|1943|08|06|df=y}}

| birth_place = London, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|06|23|1943|08|06|df=y}}

| death_place =

| alma_mater = University of Oxford

| module = {{Infobox academic | child = yes | name = no

| thesis_title = The renationalisation of the iron and steel industry, 1964–67: a study in legislative politics

| thesis_url = https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.670646

| thesis_year = 1971

| doctoral_advisor =

}}

| spouse = {{marriage|Helen Sutch|1971}}

}}

Keith William Ovenden {{Post-nominals|country=NZL|ONZM}} (6 August 1943 – 23 June 2023) was an English novelist and biographer.{{cite LCAuth |id=n79012818}}{{cite web| url= https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100257822 | title=Keith Ovenden (b. 1943) | work=Oxford Reference | accessdate=14 June 2022 }}{{cite book| chapter=Ovenden, Keith | title=The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature | editor-first1=Roger | editor-last1=Robinson | editor-first2=Nelson | editor-last2=Wattie | publisher=Oxford University Press | date=1998 | isbn=978-0195583489 }}{{cite web| url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/name-121056.html| title=Keith Ovenden (person) | publisher=Victoria University of Wellington | location=New Zealand | accessdate=14 June 2022 }}

Ovenden was born on 6 August 1943{{cite book |title=Who's Who in the World |date=1990 |publisher=Marquis |pages=813 |isbn=9780837911106 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=92bJlWbPeKMC&q=keith+william+ovenden+Aug.+6.+1943 |access-date=27 June 2023}}{{cite web |title=Keith William Ovenden |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/5dElpcN9JvQa6om9TCEP_mdL_LE/appointments |website=Companies House |access-date=27 June 2023}} in London, where he was also raised. He was educated at Wanstead County High School. He went on to study for degrees at the University of Keele, University of Michigan, and the University of Oxford.{{cite web| title=Keith Overden | url=http://nz.penguinclassics.com/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000047755,00.html | website=nz.penguinclassics.com | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060327064405/http://nz.penguinclassics.com/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000047755,00.html | accessdate=27 March 2006 | archive-date=27 March 2006 }} He started his career lecturing at the University of Essex in the Department of Government, and later taught political sociology at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, before becoming a full-time writer in 1982.

Ovenden first visited New Zealand in 1966 as a member of the British Universities debating team, and returned in 1972 as a post-doctoral fellow at Victoria University of Wellington. He achieved prominence in New Zealand during the 1970s for his commentaries on politics and media. This prominence extended into the 1980s, with his reporting on the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior in 1985 standing out.{{cite web |title=Dr Keith Ovenden ONZM |url=https://www.nzportraitgallery.org.nz/keith-ovenden |publisher=New Zealand Portrait Gallery |access-date=16 July 2023}} He was married to Helen Sutch, daughter of Bill Sutch and Shirley Smith.{{cite web |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018763065/bill-sutch-and-shirley-smith-a-memoir-by-keith-ovenden |title=Bill Sutch and Shirley Smith: a memoir by Keith Ovenden |date=8 September 2020 |publisher=Radio New Zealand |access-date=26 June 2023}}

Ovenden chaired the board of trustees of the New Zealand Portrait Gallery from October 2012 to December 2018. He was involved with the organisation for 13 years. Since 2019, an annual lecture is given in honour of Ovenden's work for the New Zealand Portrait Gallery, with him giving the inaugural lecture.

Ovenden was appointed Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2020 New Years Honours, for services to the arts.{{Cite web |title=Keith Ovenden {{!}} Massey University Press |url=https://www.masseypress.ac.nz/authors/keith-ovenden/ |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=www.masseypress.ac.nz}}

Ovenden died on 23 June 2023, at the age of 79.{{cite news |url=https://deaths.dompost.co.nz/nz/obituaries/dominion-post-nz/name/keith-ovenden-obituary?id=52317475 |title=Keith Ovenden obituary |date=26 June 2023 |work=The Post |access-date=26 June 2023}}