Soon after Chris Olive’s son Ben was born, a man asked him to join the SES. That was in 1984.

Forty years later and Chris is recognised for his long service at Kyogle SES Unit at a presentation in Lismore on November 1. 

Chris is 72 and has no plans to stop volunteering at Kyogle SES.

His favourite activity is doing the raffles at the Top Pub every Wednesday.

In the past, the money raised helped build the training tower at Kyogle SES Headquarters.

When Chris started at the SES, it was based in a shed next to the RFS out at the council depot at Highfield.

On his second week with the SES, he was given his orange and dark blue uniform.

“A Bedford truck was our rescue vehicle,” Chris said.

That has changed with a new rescue truck parked at the three-bay Kyogle SES shed in Ettrick Street.

“I enjoy helping my community,” Chris said about his long service.

I was the only Aboriginal person in this (North East Zone) cluster when I joined, he said

Chris said his expertise is in road crashes.

“I’m not into floods, I’m not a strong swimmer,” he said.

Instead, he assists at land based emergencies.

“I’ve seen some bad accidents,” he said.

Chris said he worked at the Casino meatworks for 50 years and he saw a lot of blood.

When I get to a crash and I see blood, I’m used to it, he said.

Chris enjoys driving the truck and will often be the one hosing it down after a callout.

He said he is a proud Bundjalung man and his Aboriginality has never been an issue.

“This is my orange family,” Chris said.

When he’s not at the SES, he’s relaxing with his wife Margaret and their golden retriever and cat in Kyogle. He has grandchildren living in Queensland.

Chris is gentle and softly spoken as he describes his ‘orange life’ — serving the community, the SES and loving it.

Thank you Chris for looking after us for 40 years.

This article appeared on indyNR.com on 6 November 2025.