June Norma Olley

June Norma Olley (2 March 1924 – 29 July 2019) was a world-renowned seafood technologist and advocate for women's education. She was among the first to devise a scientific methodology for predictive microbiology.

Early life Olley was born on 2 March 1924 in London in a bungalow at the back of Croydon aerodrome. Despite the expense, she was enrolled in boarding school by her mother who even inspected the standard of the school's laboratories. Her father, an early aviator and airline owner, "didn't believe in education for girls".

Early career Olley completed a Bachelor of Science with Honours from University College London in 1944 . She then went on to do a PhD on lipid metabolism in 1950 at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Working closely with David Ratkowsky over 30 years, she devised a scientific methodology to predict food safety, continuing to work with him after her retirement in 1989, when she moved to the University of Tasmania. There she supervised and mentored many students, valuing collaboration. "Why compete when you can have more minds working on the problems, since there are more than enough [problems] to go round," she is quote as saying.

In 1972, Olley was elected junior vice-president of the Tasmanian Royal Society, becoming senior vice-president in 1973.

Olley was elected a Foundation Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering.

In 2005, she received the 15th Silver Jubilee Award of Excellence from the Australian Marine Sciences Association. The following year she was inducted to the Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women.

Olley died on 29 July 2019 aged 95.