2017 ACRAs Finalist Fever: Josh Olek

In the lead up to this year’s ACRAs, Radio Today will be getting to know the nominees, and learning more about how they ended up in the world of radio.

K Rock’s Josh Olek is no stranger to radio. 2017 marks the third year Josh has been nominated, but he spent last year commenting on the fact that he was part of the first father-son nominees. This time around he’s up for Best Entertainment/Music Presenter – a fact that was quickly picked up on by the internet.

But for now, over to you Josh.

1. Sum yourself up as a radio host in three words

This is a hard one! I reckon I’d go with Loud, Hypey and Fun.

2. How did you end up working in radio?

I’ve been in radio for about 6 years now. My dad, Eddie Olek, is also in radio, so i grew up around radio studio’s (specifically, 3UZ that then became Sport 927 at the time) and became absolutely enamoured with the vibe and the feel of the place.

I finished Year 12 wanting to get into some kind of audio related job, and Dad – who was looking after the panel ops at 1116 SEN at the time – offered to show me the ropes and all of a sudden I was panelling Sunday mornings, then afternoons and drive, then helping out with the brekkie show which included Tim Watson, Andy Maher and Andrew Gaze. The rest is history!

3. What’s your most memorable radio moment?

While in Jindabyne at 2XL, myself, Sam Blacker and the rest of the guys worked our butts off to raise $11,000 for a local kid’s wheelchair. We got onto the hosts of the network shows that both 2XL and Snow FM were taking at the time, and managed to get messages from Dan and Maz, Hamish and Andy, Jonesy and Amanda, Ray Hadley and a few others to really drill home the fact that this kid really needed the help.

After smashing it out on air, we actually raised closer to $20,000, the remainder of which was used to help disabled kids from around the Snowy Mountains.

4. You managed to create quite a stir in the comments section on the Radio Today website. Explain how that came about.

So that happened completely randomly. I saw that somebody has written a really nice comment about me, but it kind of read like it was me who was posting, so I had to reply to clarify that it wasn’t. All of a sudden there was another comment about me, and another, and another, and before I knew it it had become a meme. It’s pretty funny to be completely honest.

5. Who will be the first person you thank in your speech if you win, and why?

I feel like I’ve come a long way as announcer since I got to K Rock in Geelong, and that wouldn’t have happened if the PD at the time Leigh Kuhlman wasn’t willing to give me a go. Even though he’s joined the Triple M up in Sydney, and is technically dead to us in Geelong, it’s an opportunity that I’ll never forget and one that i am extremely grateful for.

6. What’s your go-to song to play on-air during your show?

Gotta say, I’m bloody loving the new Vance Joy tune ‘Lay It On Me’, also Demi Lovato’s ‘Sorry Not Sorry’ is a banger. And the new Bieber tune ‘Friends’ is literally on every one of my playlists at the moment.

Also Daryl Braithwaite’s ‘Horses’, now that he’s playing Fall Festival this year. OH MY GOD YES!