Jerzy Owsiak

Jerzy Owsiak, (born 6 October 1953 in Gdańsk) is a Polish journalist and social campaigner. He is a founder and President of the Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy (WOŚP), one of the largest non-governmental, non-profit, charity organizations in Poland. Owsiak is the main initiator and promoter for the group's Grand Finale, an annual worldwide festival involving music and other components intended to raise money for the medical care of children suffering from urological and kidney diseases. He is also the creator of Przystanek Woodstock (simply: the "Woodstock Festival"), a large rock music festival that takes place in Kostrzyn, to thank all the volunteers and supporters who take part in the Grand Finale each year.

Owsiak is married to Lidia Niedźwiedzka-Owsiak, the Medical Affairs Director for the WOŚP. He is also a stained glass maker, and he has qualifications in Psychotherapy.

At the age of eight, Owsiak moved with his parents from Gdańsk to Warsaw. Here, he graduated from high school with an economic profile, and later attempted to achieve a place at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. When he was a teenager, he was involved with the hippie subculture in the Warsaw Voivodeship. His fascination with this subculture led to his idea for the , an annual rock concert held in Poland.

Due to his acquaintance with Wojciech Waglewski, Owsiak became well known in music circles. Since 1988, he has attended Voo Voo concerts. He has played at some of them with his band, Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Chińskich Ręczników, and he started his programme on the Rozgłośnia Harcerska (the Scout's Radio Station).

After the termination of his work in the Scout's Radio Station, his next undertaking was the broadcast of "Brum". He ran it in the 1991-1994 period in PR Program III. It was only broadcast on Fridays. Between 1994 and 1999, it changed its name to "Się kręci". Later, he undertook the broadcast of "Kręcioła" on Polskie Radio Program I and attended meetings with listeners on Saturday mornings at RMF FM. However, all of these broadcasts ended only after a few broadcasts, because of conflict with station authorities.

...
Wikipedia