Harold Mitchell

Recent Speaker

Mitchell Communication Group

September 1, 2009

"Living Large"

Living Large explores Harold Mitchell’s remarkable personal journey from son of a sawmiller to owner of a $100 million business, rubbing shoulders with Australia's most powerful people. It traces Mitchell’s philosophies about business and life, and presents guidance for young business executives trying to make it in the jungle.


Harold Mitchell was born in 1942 in the small remote West Gippsland town of Trafalgar, 125 kilometres east of Melbourne. He grew up around Gippsland sawmills, with his three siblings following his father to wherever the work was. His mother left the family when Harold, the eldest, was 16, leaving his father to bring up the children. Wanting to work in radio, he successfully applied for a job at an advertising agency in Melbourne. Rapidly working his way up the ranks, Harold soon became successful in the media buying operation of several agencies before starting out on his own in 1976 with just $2000 capital. His move revolutionized the industry: he pioneered the idea of taking the buying and placing of advertisements for clients out of the advertising agencies into a separate operation. Despite bitter opposition from the agencies, he became successful quickly, and today is an icon and market leader of the 'media buying' industry.

He set up the Harold Mitchell Foundation which disperses money to an array of causes. His son Stuart Mitchell now runs the business Mitchell and Partners, while Harold plays an over-seeing, advisory role. His daughter Amanda is chair of the Harold Mitchell Foundation. Married to Bevelly for nearly 50 years, he lives in St Andrews, 40 kilometres from Melbourne, where his house was lucky to be spared from the fires of Black Saturday on 7 February 2009.