Draft:JJ McRoach

Jay Jerilderie McRoach (born Piotr Olszewski, 12 May 1948 - 9 April 2024) was an Australian writer, journalist and cannabis use activist. Also known as Peter Olszewski ,...

Life and career
McRoach was born in Poland into a German-Polish family and moved to Australia when he was one-year old. He spent his childhood in Maryborough, Victoria where he began going by the name Peter rather than the Polish Piotr.

In the 1960s and 1970s, McRoach was part of the Carlton Push, a group of artists, performers and intellectuals involved with theatres, publishing houses and other establishments in Carlton.

McRoach was a admirer of American writer Hunter S. Thompson and accompanied the writer as his publicity director on a ten-day tour of Australia in 1976. An account of the tour was later published by McRoach in his 1979 book Dozen Dopey Yarns.

McRoach was a founder of the Australian Marijuana Party. In the 1977 federal election, McRoach legally changed his name to JJ McRoach to run for the Australian Senate as a candidate for the party. JJ was slang for a cannabis cigarette. However, McRoach explained that it stood for Jay, a reference to a joint, and Jerilderie, the Victorian town known for its association with Ned Kelly. He received a total of 14,383 votes.

McRoach reverted back to using the Olszewski name again later in his career.