Dinosaur Designs

Where they started is now enshrined in Australian design lore. Back in 1985, Olsen and Ormandy, along with their friend Liane Rossler, were students selling handmade jewellery at Sydney’s Paddington Markets to fund their art practices. “The objective was to pay the rent at the end of the week and buy some paints – as simple as that,” says Ormandy. Drawn to the luminous, tactile qualities of resin, the trio began developing what would become the brand’s signature style – a playful mix of chunky, organic forms and a beautifully instinctive understanding of colour. It quickly caught the attention of a local audience hungry for something new and unique, and the Dinosaur Designs story began in earnest.

By 1989, momentum was starting to build. “When we made our first resin cast for an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, that really cemented us into a whole new sphere,” says Olsen. “We were developing an audience overseas very quickly because we were making jewellery for INXS and Kylie Minogue. There was just a lovely buzz, and the resin really set us apart from everything else that was going on at the time.”

Lady Gaga has visited the New York store, and these days, you can find Dinosaur Designs jewellery on the wrists of A-listers such as Bella Hadid, Doechii and Cate Blanchett. And while it may seem like an incandescent rise to the top, “We were an overnight success in 10 years,” jokes Ormandy.

In person, Olsen is softly spoken and calm, Ormandy humorous and chatty – a balance that has long animated their creative partnership. For their 40th anniversary collection, the partners in life and work are reimagining a motif central to their early years, inspired by the hues and forms of the natural world. “Back then, the rock was what became our thing,” says Olsen. “Lots of companies have a signature piece; for us, it was the River Rock necklace. With this collection, we wanted to reinvent it in a way we hadn’t explored before. With all the knowledge that we have of 40 years behind it, we’re able to bring something really new to it.”

Taking cues from the enduring presence of these natural, geological forms, the Rock collection features stone-like silhouettes cast in resin across a vibrant palette of colours: baby blue, cream, powder pink, honeycomb, coral and a milky, chocolate brown. The homewares collection captures some of the iconic, sculptural shapes that have become touchstones of the brand – expressed in vases, bowls, platters and servers – while jewellery pieces bring together silver and gold with smooth, organic resin forms in beaded necklaces, bangles, earrings and rings.

Each piece is made by hand in Dinosaur Designs’ Redfern workshop, which has been the core of the business for 25 years. The bustling multi-storey terrace is full of twists and turns and positively hums with energy: the walls are stacked from floor to ceiling with plates, bowls and vases, while every surface seems to vibrate with colour.

All the pigments are hand-mixed, and each form is poured and finished by hand by a talented team of makers, ensuring no two pieces are completely alike. Keeping production in Australia has allowed the duo to stay closely connected to the process and open to discovery. “If you’re manufacturing somewhere else, the mistakes never see the light of day,” says Ormandy. “But those happy accidents are important. They often lead to new ideas, colours or collections.”

The workshop also houses the couple’s personal art studios – a reminder that they are artists first and foremost. “We see ourselves as artists and resin is a fairly painterly material in a way,” notes Olsen. “People often love to pigeonhole you and say, ‘Well, you’re a designer or you’re an artist.’ But if you look throughout art history, [Alexander] Calder did jewellery and homewares, and so did [Alberto] Giacometti. Picasso did ceramics. Everything informs the other and leans into the other.”

The couple are also “natural-born entrepreneurs”, as Ormandy puts it. “Dinosaur has always had a commercial aspect to it,” he says. “We enjoy that side of it, but we’ve never compromised on creating something of value. Resin is a waste material that we are turning into something that we want people to treasure. It’s not disposable. It’s to be kept and loved. We want them to be like little sculptures – something people put on their mantlepiece.” This commitment to independence and an open, experimental spirit has long defined their work and has been key to their longevity.

Outside of the business, the two continue to pursue their own distinct art practices. Olsen showed a series of gestural oil paintings on linen at Sydney Contemporary 2025 with Olsen Gallery, inspired by haikus. “Haikus are always generally based on human relationships but also humans in the landscape and their relationship to nature,” she says. “That’s something I always love to explore. It’s funny how nature seeps into you. I think those paintings are a real reflection of the haiku but also how nature has seeped into me.” Alongside her painting, she also runs her own eponymous label of precious metal jewellery and sculptures, LO Collections.

Ormandy, meanwhile, has been deepening his longstanding exploration of abstraction. Known for his striking geometric paintings and ‘totem’ sculptures, he’s now turning his attention to larger-scale public artworks. “It’s very mathematical, really,” he says of his visual language, which he refers to as an ‘alphabet’ of shapes based on the cube. “I love the idea of the pieces being able to come together and find rhythms and forms, and build structures that are interesting in terms of positive and negative space.” His first public commission in Australia – a monumental steel-and-stone structure – will soon be installed at Ode, a new development by Luigi Rosselli Architects in Sydney’s Double Bay, with another installation planned for Auckland in 2026.

While Dinosaur Designs’ rise hasn’t been without its ups and downs – from miscalculated orders to fire and floods – both Olsen and Ormandy believe that the challenges have been crucial to their journey. “All the lessons are so important, especially the mistakes,” says Olsen. “It’s been so rewarding and it’s given us a great, incredible life. We feel really grateful for the success.” Ormandy adds, “We hope that Australia can continue to do that for the next generation of creators and artists, too.”