Through a series of portraits, the Courrier Australien takes a look back at the careers of several of the winners of the 2024 French-Australian Excellence Awards. Winner in the “Arts, Culture, Entertainment & Events” category, Olivier Vojetta has been involved in the French-Australian community for several years, in addition to putting his love of writing into practice with seven books to his credit.
Author, cultural presenter, columnist, strategy consultant… Putting a single label on Olivier Vojetta’s varied career is hard. And yet, nothing destined this Lorraine native from Nancy to join Australia, which has now become a second home, a source of inspiration, and powerful encounters.
Reinventing oneself
Before taking on a role at the crossroads of different paths and professions, Olivier Vojetta had a career all mapped out for him: “I studied business in Bordeaux and did an exchange at Boston College, because I’ve always had a fascination for the United States,” he explains. “Then, when I came back, I found my first job in London, at Société Générale as part of a CSNE (equivalent to French international volunteering today, editor’s note)“.
A certain inclination for the world of strategy, business, and consulting seems clear. He continued his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the Big Four audit and consulting firms, before spending five years as a trader in an investment bank, until the financial crisis of 2008. “At that point, I had to reinvent myself, and I did so in a hedge fund with two French colleagues, for three years“.
It was an encounter with his Australian wife in a London nightclub that changed all that. “It was she who then took me back to Sydney, and that’s kind of the only reason I came here!” he admits with a smile. “I’d never thought about Australia before, it wasn’t on my ‘map’ at all, but I’m glad I did!” Starting from scratch is no easy task, but the then 35-year-old has no regrets, “especially in a country and city like Sydney“.
Two years ago, Olivier Vojetta took a new direction and joined his first marketing and communications agency as a strategist. A change of direction that didn’t seem to faze the man from Nancy, who on the contrary saw it as an opportunity to make the most of an even wider range of interests.
When creativity shines through
“Not only do I bring my strategic and advisory skills from the banking world, but I also bring back that creative fiber and ‘storytelling’ that was dormant in the professional world.“
Alongside his professional activity, his “second career“, as he calls it, is immersed in books and writing. For the past 20 years, he has been publishing works that embody his reflections, particularly on the human condition: “I love creating emotions in people to encourage them to act in a certain way,” he explains. “I’m very interested in how the brain works, the pangs of the brain, and how people drive themselves mad all by themselves.“
In 2023, he published La folie des frères, his sixth novel focusing on the issue of terrorism. “I think there are a lot of people who, before being bastards, were heroes. I was interested in understanding how people could become someone else, sometimes in a very short space of time“, he explains. “And I think that today, with social networks for example, this passage from ‘hero’ to ‘bastard’ is even quicker“.
Creator of the “Philo Bistro”
For the past four years, Olivier Vojetta has been hosting the monthly ‘Philo Bistro’, an event that has become a must for the Franco-Australian community in Sydney and Australia. “And not ‘Bistro Philo’!“, as he likes to repeat humorously. “I want to emphasize discussion and exchange before the glass of wine!“
Once a month, at the Alliance Française, he invites a personality “from the world of the arts, politics or sport” for an in-depth, uncompromising discussion lasting an hour and a half, interacting with a “growing” audience of between 50 and 90 people, who can also ask questions. “It’s a bit like a ‘David Letterman’ talk show,” explains Olivier Vojetta. “We’ve had actors, singers, journalists, even former spies. I’m looking for personalities who really have interesting things to say. This is the fourth season and the audience is growing, so it’s something that’s lasting and growing.” Recommended for anyone with a B2 level or above, the event also aims to promote French language learning among Francophile Australians, who represent “75% of the audience“.
“The spark came from Valérie Nicolas, director of the Alliance française, who asked me if I’d be interested in ‘breathing life’ back into the Alliance. That was four years ago, just after Covid-19, and the borders had just been reopened,” he explains. “It’s a bit like my ‘writer/investigator’ hat, where I love asking questions that touch on the realm of personal truth, and making a show out of it. What I’m looking for with the person I invite is to create an unexpected emotion!“
Bringing France to him
For Olivier Vojetta, keeping this precious link with his native country is fundamental: “It’s my way of not being ‘homesick’,” he sums up. “A few years ago, I said to myself that I missed France too much. Writing helped me keep that link, but it’s a solitary activity, and I needed that living connection with France. So I said to myself: ‘if I can’t be in France, why not bring France to me?’” Alongside his work as a “mediator of cultural events”, the writer is also involved as a literary and cultural critic for publishing houses and the Courrier Australien website, as well as writing columns for Radio 4EB. “So now I don’t miss France anymore, because it’s here“.
The man who has lived at the heart of relations between France and Australia for several years notes a real attraction between the two cultures, which enjoy a special bond. “I think it’s something that goes both ways,” explains Olivier Vojetta. “Both learn and enrich each other. In fact, you can see the enthusiasm the French have for Australia, which is a country that symbolizes dreams, change of scenery and adventure, and vice-versa. I think Australians dream of French gastronomy and culture, as we see every year with the AF French Film Festival. A million Australians visit France every year, out of a population of 25 million. So I think that says a lot.”
Winner of the French Australian Excellence Awards
Last year, Olivier Vojetta won the “Arts, Culture, Entertainment & Events” category of the 2024 French Australian Excellence Awards for his “Philo Bistro” and his involvement in Franco-Australian relations. An award he receives “with joy, a little surprise because I wasn’t expecting it, but also recognition for the people who voted for me, who thought that what I was doing was helping to enrich these links between France and Australia,” he confides. “I’d like once again to thank the Courrier Australien, but also the Prix Yves Hernot, which is a sponsor in the Art and Culture category, without whom this award wouldn’t exist.“
“Receiving this award has opened up new possibilities for me,” he explains. “It created a platform for me to talk to people I didn’t necessarily have access to before. So thanks to this award, I can have even bigger guests at my ‘Philo Bistros’ and have even more impactful discussions.“
To future participants, Olivier Vojetta hopes to pass on what has been his strength throughout his career: “being curious about others and being connected to them. These days, a lot of people have a life with their screen, and I think all the good things that have happened to me in recent years have been ‘off screen’, via encounters where you open up to others, where you show yourself to be vulnerable. So ask questions, take an interest in the other person, listen more and talk less, don’t try to sell something from the very first exchange. Listen first“.
His biggest piece of advice: “Don’t be afraid of your vulnerability, it’s a force for authenticity and the greatest gift you can give to another person. Don’t be afraid of silences in discussions either, they’re the space you leave for the other person to be yourself. Finally, have confidence in yourself. I believe that most people are ‘self-limiting’, but human beings are capable of much more than we think. So take risks, scare yourself, that’s how you learn“.
The next “Philo Bistro”, hosted by Olivier Vojetta, will take place on May 14 at 6pm, at the Alliance française de Sydney, in the presence of French footballer Valère Germain.
To reserve your spot: https://www.afsydney.com.au/whats-on/philo-bistro/
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