Former Terrick manager, Millmerran newsagent, Ivan Oliver remembered

Ivan, 64, from Millmerran, died in a two-car crash on the Leichhardt Highway south of Miles on October 17.

While people knew him as the manager of Terrick Terrick Merino Stud at Blackall, a stock salesman, a shearing contractor, and a newsagency proprietor, he started his working life at 15 when his father arranged a job for him in western Queensland.

It was a big move for a young man from Young in NSW to a job as jackaroo at Lansdowne Merino stud at Tambo, involving long train and bus journeys.

He worked there for two years, amassing memories of milking cows in the freezing cold, butchering sheep for a large quota of staff, and developing a love of the wide open country and the generosity of the people for a young man far from home.

He then moved on to a job jackarooing for Mac Patterson at Acton in May 1975 and then as head stockman at Wellclose in the Langlo district.

Ivan rose to the challenge of working weeks without breaks, receiving greater responsibility and reward in return, as well as the friendship of the Scrubby Creek community, where he earned many a Scrubby Mug at weekend clay target shoots.

From the dry, rugged ridges of the Langlo, Ivan next took a position in the NSW Riverina district with Australian Estates, one of the foremost agricultural companies of the era.

After five months jackarooing at Oolambeyan at Carrathool, he was promoted to the position of stud groom, a position he held for two years.

This is where his passion for Merino sheep and the stud industry was ingrained, and he was in his element in the ram shed, getting to show sheep in cities as far apart as Perth, Sydney and Melbourne.

His next move was to Raby at Warren, as assistant overseer, working by now for CSR Pastoral, who had taken over Australian Estates but maintaining the staff and formal structures of the English company that had served them well.

It was in November 1979 that Ivan took up the position of overseer at Terrick Terrick at Blackall in western Queensland, spending the next five-and-a-half years there, one of the best times of his life.

Among the social whirl of parties, races, picnics and cricket was the sport of polocrosse, where he joined the Blackall club, playing in the No 1 position and travelling as far north as Mareeba and east to Kilcoy to play.

He competed in numerous Queensland championships and won the club's best No 1 award many times.

By 1985, Ivan decided he wanted to see more of the world and worked on a ranch in Montana, thanks to an international exchange program.

After nearly a year overseas he returned to Charleville, where his parents were living, and where he met his future wife Maria, who was working with the Warrego Graziers Association.

He took up work with Elders as a stock salesman in the Charleville branch and then at Quilpie, a life he loved.

Polocrosse remained a focus, with carnivals across the south west, including at the historic Thylungra Station.

In 1986 Ivan and Maria were engaged and Ivan purchased his father's Charleville-based shearing contract business.

After marrying the following year, Ivan worked tirelessly to create an extremely successful business, employing around 40 men in a number of teams.

He became the largest shearing contractor in south west Queensland at the time, shearing 300,000 sheep annually.

This is where his exceptional people management skills came to the fore, being able to find the right balance between grazier and shed staff every time.

Life was upturned by the 1990 flood, when the Oliver's home two metres above ground level was inundated by the raging torrent of Bradley's Gully.

They managed to stay in their home, moving to the roof with the dog and cat as the sun set, watching in awe as helicopters airlifted people from their rooftops.

Ivan and Maria chose to sleep on their kitchen table that night and then negotiated a passage on the SES boat the following day to the home of friends who had evacuated to Roma.

Later that year Ivan was offered the opportunity by National Mutual Rural Enterprises to return to Terrick Terrick as assistant manager.

Alongside manager Rob Beatty and wife Cathy, Ivan was in his element, working with the staff and families that lived on the four different properties that made up the 100,000 hectare property.

Ivan and Maria's two children, Tom and James were born during this period.

In 1996 Ivan was offered a position by National Mutual as manager of Bonathorne at Dirranbandi, providing the opportunity to work on a mixed farming and grazing property.

Two years later Ivan was offered the job he had aspired to all his life and returned to Terrick as manager.

He relished the opportunity, devoting himself to managing around 10,000 cattle as well around 65,000 sheep.

With the assistance of assistant manager Vince Prow and secretary Rhonda Prow, he implemented new practices and infrastructure, becoming the first wool grower in Queensland to use Fleecescan and indexing to identify high performance animals.

This innovation saw Terrick host the first sheep sale where sheep were offered with individual measurements.

In 2001, Ivan received the news that AXA Australia, now the owner of Terrick, was divesting itself of all its Queensland rural properties, resulting in the sell-down of all the stock, a difficult time for him.

At the suggestion of Charleville friends Tim and Michelle Sheehan, Ivan and Maria decided to purchase a newsagency in Millmerran, proceeding to work tirelessly in the role for almost 20 years.

Ivan threw himself into the job and the community of Millmerran, joining Millmerran Commerce, the local ambulance committee and serving on the Heritage Community Bank inaugural board.

He was in his element at the shop counter and loved talking to customers and getting to know each and every one of them.

In 2013 Ivan went on a gap year with his youngest son James, contract fencing around Goondiwindi, Mungindi, Talwood, Western Creek and Condamine, with Tom joining them in uni breaks.

He recently acquired a small herd of Speckle Park cattle and was envisioning a little more time on their block of land.

Nothing was too much trouble for Ivan. He was prepared to help anyone, anytime, and was an exceptional husband and father, who will be forever in the hearts of all who knew him.

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