Often described as a “renaissance man,” Ian Reilly is an author, artist, and speaker whose work draws on a lifetime of innovation, teaching, and hard-won experience. Part engineer, part entrepreneur, part poet, he brings a restless, curious mind to everything he creates—think Leonardo da Vinci, minus the genius and with better deadlines.

Raised in a family of storytellers (it’s the Irish in him), Ian writes vivid, immersive prose that blends humour, drama, and the occasional tragedy. A lifelong poet—able to recite The Rime of the Ancient Mariner from memory—he draws on poetic form to move the reader’s heart and stir the imagination, creating stories that make readers feel like they are there in the story.

Ian began writing in Samoa in 1990 while he and his wife, Heather, were international volunteer high-school teachers. The years that followed—raising their daughters, Rosemary and Elizabeth, alongside a demanding career as an international innovation consultant and entrepreneur—placed writing on hold, but never extinguished it.

In 2014, Ian founded the agri-tech startup Agersens, creator of eShepherd, the world’s first virtual fencing system for cattle. After the company’s acquisition by international agricultural firm Gallagher in 2021, he finally reclaimed the space to write Encounter, and to deepen his work as a visual artist in oil, pastel, and watercolour.

Ian lives in Melbourne, Australia, where he continues to write, paint, and create.

Contact Information:

Website: ianreilly.com.au

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @Ian_reilly_writing

Facebook: facebook.com/ian.reilly.9849

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ian-reilly-creative-design-draw-write

Substack: substack.com/@ianreilly