Olga Healey
Russian born designer Olga Healey immigrated to Australia in 2009. Olga has since come to call Lake Macquarie home and although grateful for many of the opportunities associated with the change in lifestyle, acknowledges that the transition hasn’t always proved easy.
Long-term work prospects in Olga’s field of expertise, sustainability planning, have so far proved elusive. Despite obvious frustrations with this situation, Mrs Healey is a personable and upbeat interview subject. In dedicating her story to other women who may be encountering similar migratory experiences, Olga demonstrates a keen sense of empathy.
A supporter of self-determination, Olga espouses the value of education and mentorship, encouraging the disoriented to seek advice, to ask questions, to explore options and gain experience. The construction and development of a new house at Charlestown is a source of pride and Mrs Healey displays a sense of wonder when describing the support she received during her successful tertiary studies.
Later activities facilitated a broadening of Olga’s social circle, and coupled with a burgeoning appreciation of her readily accessible outdoors environment, she fondly contemplates the new recreational pursuits seemingly available to her including hiking.
This work by Lake Macquarie City Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License