Bob Oatley

Robert Ian Oatley (11 June 1928 – 10 January 2016) was an Australian businessman, winemaker, yachtsman and philanthropist. He was perhaps best known for owning the nine-time Sydney-Hobart-winning yacht Wild Oats XI. He bought Hamilton Island, Queensland in 2003 for $200 million, he also owned retirement homes and a villa in Sardinia, Italy. Oatley also established the Rosemount winery, in the Hunter Valley in 1969.

Biography Robert Oatley was born in the Sydney suburb of Mosman in 1928, the son of Geoffrey Oatley and Isabel "Jean" née Brown. Oatley was a great, great grandson of British clock maker James Oatley. and a great grandson of James Oatley, Lord Mayor of Sydney and a Member of the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales.

Oatley's mother, Jean, died from melanoma 13 months after his birth, leaving him as an only child. Oatley's father was employed in the wool industry, which meant spending much of his working life was spent travelling in rural New South Wales. Consequently, Oatley was raised by his mother's sister, Muriel, the wife of Duncan A. Cameron. Oatley attended the Mosman Primary School.

He died from a lung infection on 10 January 2016, aged 87.

Personal life Oatley married Rosemary Nell Bray on 12 April 1951 in St Clement's Church, Mosman; and divorced on 2 December 1982, about seven weeks before Rosemary died. They had three children, Andrew "Sandy", Ian, and Rosalind. Two of Oatley's grandchildren, cousins Kristy Oatley and Lyndal Oatley, are Olympic equestrians. Oatley later married Valerie.

Honours Oatley was awarded the British Empire Medal in 1984, for his service to the coffee industry in Papua New Guinea. In 2014, Oatley was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia.