triple j content director Ollie Wards departs on 12-month sabbatical

triple j content director Ollie Wards is temporarily stepping down from his role at the national broadcaster, with Lachie Macara set to replace him for the next 12 months.

Today is the final day of handover between Wards and Macara.

Wards, who has held the role of CD since 2010, is taking a 12-month sabbatical from triple j to travel and to work on some passion projects.

His itinerary for the next year includes spending the rest of 2018 in Europe before heading to New York, working on True Crime podcast, and speaking at the Next Radio conference in London in September.

“I’m taking a year out from triple j but already looking forward to coming back!” Wards told Radio Today.

“In the meantime, I’ll be in Europe for the rest of this year then New York from January.

“I’ll also be checking out how other music and media organisations are doing cool stuff overseas, where I’ll both shamelessly talk up how great triple j is and also import anything cool back to Australia. Lucky we’ve got a sweet new app I can stream on too!”

His replacement Lachie Macara has spent the last year at BBC Radio 1 as an EP making podcasts and documentaries but is no stranger to triple j, having first worked at the ABC in 2010.

Macara established the triple j music news team, previously led major network campaigns and most recently headed up triple j Unearthed as EP.

“After a year working abroad, I feel I can confidently say there’s nothing in the world quite like triple j,” he said.

“I’m stoked to be back steering this pack around the park the next 12 months. It’s an exciting time at the station with some big stuff in the works – One Night Stand, Hottest 100, Ausmusic Month – so I’m looking forward to getting stuck in and giving our audience more of what they love.”