Kieren Perkins

Few understand what it takes to achieve exceptional performance more than Kieren Perkins OAM. With 11 world records, two Olympic gold medals, two Olympic silver medals, and more than a dozen Commonwealth and World Championship medals, Kieren's sporting achievements place him among Australia’s greatest athletes. Nicknamed “Super Fish”, he dominated world swimming for over a decade, famously holding the 1500m freestyle world record for nine years and becoming the first athlete in history to hold Olympic, World, Commonwealth and Pan Pacific titles simultaneously.

Across two decades in the pool, Kieren broke more than 40 Australian records and helped revive Australia’s proud legacy in distance swimming. Beyond competition, he was also an integral member of the Australian delegation sent to Monaco in 1993, contributing to the successful bid that saw Sydney host the 2000 Olympic Games. 

Since retiring from elite sport in 2000 at the age of just 27, Kieren has translated his learnt principles of high performance, resilience and sustained excellence into leadership roles across business and sport. In December 2021, he was appointed CEO of the Australian Sports Commission and the Australian Institute of Sport, where he now leads Australia’s national sporting system. In this role, Kieren is focused on strengthening participation and high-performance pathways, building sustainable winning systems, and preparing Australian sport for the road to Brisbane 2032.

Alongside his contribution to national sport leadership, Kieran has built a distinguished corporate career. He joined NAB in 2009 as Head of Business Development and Acquisition, and has since progressed through multiple senior roles, most recently as General Manager Enablement, Business and Private Bank, leading a national team supporting NAB's Business and Private Banking divisions. Prior to this, he worked internationally as a Partner of Performance Global and Partner of RogenSi, advising organisations on leadership, performance and organisational effectiveness

Kieren has also served on numerous corporate, government and not-for-profit boards, including the Australian Sports Commission, Swimming Australia (where he previously served as President), the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, Starlight Children’s’ Foundation, Pain Australia Ltd, the ANZAC Foundation and NFP Online.

His contributions to sport and the community have been widely recognised. Kieren was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1992, named Young Australian of the Year, inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame, and recognised as a Q150 Icon of Queensland. He also holds an honorary doctorate of Philosophy from the University of Queensland University.

As a speaker, Kieren brings rare insight into what it takes to build sustainable excellence, drawing on lessons from elite sport, executive leadership and national governance. His story is one of discipline, adaptability and purpose, offering powerful and practical perspectives on leadership, resilience and high performance in any arena.