Olivia's Passion for the environment

By Chrissie Camp

OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN’s passion for the environment has taken over her life, so much so that her singing career may well be finished. Olivia is thriving in her new role as honorary ambassador for the United Nations environment program. She recently returned from a trip with husband Matt Lattanzi to Brazil’s Amazon River, where she endured rugged conditions to film a TV special on the destruction of the rain forests.

Olivia, 41, says she has little interest in returning to the showbiz world. “My life is so wonderful and so full now, I don’t know if I ever want to go back to that again. There are so many young girls in the pop world now who are so good. I don’t want to compete in that field,” she says. “It’s different for me now - I only want to spend my time doing important things, like the environment.”

Olivia says she was overwhelmed with the beauty of the Brazilian rain forests and is now more determined than ever to continue her work for the conservation cause. “Since I had Chloe, my life has changed and my focus has changed. I feel I have new responsibilities. One is to raise Chloe in the right way and the other is to make sure she has a healthy world to live in.”

Olivia has the total support of Matt in her endeavours and says she feels more satisfaction and contentment from her new work than any singing or acting successes. She is, however, thrilled with her new children’s lullabies album, Warm And Tender, inspired by four-year-old Chloe. It was recorded in August at the Victorian Arts Centre with the Victorian Philharmonic Orchestra. On the sleeve of the album she included 10 suggestions on how to practise conservation in the home.