About the author
An African Boy
Michael Richard Oehley was born on 18 August 1983 in Pretoria, South Africa. He grew up on the grounds of a famous South African school, Pretoria Boys High, where his father was Senior Deputy Headmaster. On long African summer afternoons, he invented the world of Óshéanús and the character Súperia that feature in ‘The 4 Powers of Daren Sáner’ and 'The Vitality Code'.
Michael started writing stories from the age of 5. Early works included a series of adventures about ‘Superdog’. He was inspired by the wilderness and animals of Southern Africa.
A Kiwi Education
Michael’s family moved to New Zealand in 1994 and settled in Hamilton. He completed his education at Southwell School and St. Paul’s Collegiate School. He started his first serious attempt at writing novels when he was 15. Other interests included acting, singing, tennis and swimming.
He studied medicine at the University of Auckland. In 2002, at the end of his first year, Michael came up with the idea for a book called ‘Daren Sáner and the Starship Súperia.’ Seven years, thirteen drafts, thousands of hours and millions of typed words later, that book was accepted for publication by Scholastic NZ Ltd and re-titled ‘The 4 Powers of Daren Sáner’.
An Australian Doctor, Writer and Traveller
Michael now works in remote Australian country hospitals and emergency departments on short contracts. He travels and writes in his free time. He has travelled extensively in Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and the United States of America. His parents, two brothers and sister live in New Zealand, which Michael still calls home. He is engaged to be married and plans on returning to New Zealand for good in 2013/14. Until then, he and his fiancee are saving up for six months of travelling around Asia, Central and South America in the second half of 2012.
Michael's next book, 'The Vitality Code’, will be published by Scholastic in April 2012. He is working on a third Daren Sáner book and a novel for adult readers.
Author Questionnaire
Things I’ll bet you didn’t know about me…
Favourite:
| Food | chocolate |
| Drink | coffee |
| Actor | Morgan Freeman |
| Actress | Meryl Streep |
| Children’s book | ‘His Dark Materials’ series by Philip Pullman |
| Novel | ‘Spud’ series by John van de Ruit |
| Movie | ‘The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King’ |
| Musical | ‘The Lion King’ |
| Song | ‘Colour the World’ by SASH! |
| Sportsmen | Roger Federer (tennis) and Jacques Kallis (cricket) |
| Place | The Kruger National Park, South Africa |
Most Interesting Places I’ve Ever Been:
Rome, Italy and Washington, D.C.
Most Beautiful Places I’ve Ever Been:
Glenorchy, New Zealand and the Greek island of Santorini.
Person I Would Most Like To Meet:
President Barack Obama
What Is Most Important To Me:
My family and friends
