Brett Sheehy

Brett Sheehy AO
Brett Sheehy in 2012
Born	Brett Joseph Sheehy Brisbane, Queensland
Residence	Melbourne
Nationality	Australian
Occupation	Artistic Director
Known for	- Artistic Director & CEO of Melbourne Theatre Company - Artistic Director & Co-CEO of Melbourne Festival - Artistic Director & Co-CEO of Adelaide Festival - Artistic Director & CEO of Sydney Festival - Various mentoring roles nationally
Partner(s)	Steven Nicholls (since August 1994)
Parent(s)	Gabriel Joseph "Joe" Sheehy Joan Sheehy

Brett Joseph Sheehy AO (born 23 November 1958) is an Australian artistic director, producer and curator. He is currently Artistic Director and CEO of the Melbourne Theatre Company (MTC), and is the only person to be appointed to direct three of the five international arts festivals in Australia's State capital cities being Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival and Melbourne Festival.

Sheehy was born and raised in Brisbane, Queensland. His father Gabriel Joseph "Joe" Sheehy is a retired civil and structural engineer, and founder of the consulting engineering firm Sheehy & Partners Pty Ltd, and his mother Joan Sheehy (née O'Sullivan) is a homemaker and charity worker, particularly with the Vietnamese refugee community who arrived in Brisbane following the Vietnam War.

Sheehy was educated at St. Joseph's Christian Brothers College, Gregory Terrace, Brisbane and then at University of Queensland where he studied arts/law. Several of his family have been involved in law and public service in Queensland. His grandfather Sir Joseph Sheehy KBE served as Senior Puisne Judge of the Queensland Supreme Court, as Administrator of the State of Queensland in 1965 and 1969, and as Deputy Governor and Acting Governor.

Sheehy's maternal grandfather John Roger O'Sullivan also served the State as architect of public and community housing for the Queensland Government, while another great-uncle, two uncles (including District Court Judge Leo McNamara), his sister and several first cousins all practised law.

As a boy, Sheehy lived with a third uncle, property developer Rick O'Sullivan, and his family on several occasions when Sheehy's mother endured lengthy illnesses. O'Sullivan was co-owner of the racehorse Think Big which won the Melbourne Cup in 1974 and 1975.

Despite several family members' legal background, Sheehy completed only three years of his law studies and his articled clerkship at Short, Punch & Greatorix Solicitors on Queensland's Gold Coast, before abandoning law and moving to Sydney in 1983.