James Oswald FairfaxAC (27 March 1933 – 11 January 2017) was an Australian company director, philanthropist, and a member of the Fairfax family, an Australian family prominent in the newspaper publisher industry.
Fairfax was born in Sydney, the eldest son of Sir Warwick Oswald Fairfax and Marcie Elizabeth (Betty) Wilson. He is the grandson of Sir James Oswald Fairfax (1863–1928) and David WilsonKC (1879–1965).
A prominent art collector, initially of Australian art, and from the 1960s increasingly of European old masters. He was a generous supporter of the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the National Gallery of Australia. A catalogue of his collection of art was published to accompany an exhibition held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, between April and July 2003. In 2015, Fairfax's net worth was estimated in the BRWRich 200 to be A$302 million, comprising a mix of property, diversified investments and an extensive collection of art and antiques.[3]
He was appointed an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia in 1993 in recognition of service to the arts and to the community;[4] and a Companion of the Order (AC) in 2010 for eminent service to the community through support and philanthropy for the visual arts, conservation organisations and building programs for medical research and educational facilities.[5]
