Adrian Olsen making his mark at Gympie

By Jordan Gerrans

As Gympie’s Adrian Olsen aims to establish himself in the Queensland training ranks, he has the wise words of a couple of Hall of Fame mentors in the back of his mind every step of the way.

The 53-year-old Olsen landed two of the biggest prizes in local racing in the city last year – winning the 2025 Gympie Cup as well as the Nolan Muster Cup.

He did so with stable favourite Primary Witness who has racked up eight wins for the relatively novice-level trainer since March of 2024.

Olsen’s father Kevin was a rider in his youth, which sparked the Gympie trainer’s passion for the industry.

He grew up around the stables of champion Sunshine State trainer Jim Griffiths while also learning a few tricks of the trade under Gold Coast Hall of Fame trainer, the late Noel Doyle.

“When my father got too heavy for riding, he ended up being a foreman for Jim Griffiths,” Olsen recalls of his early days around the game.

“When Jim passed away, he then was a foreman for Noel Doyle on the Gold Coast and that's how I got involved.

“As a kid, just hanging around the stables, I ended up strapping for them. Again, I did a fair bit as a kid with Jim Griffiths, strapping from him.

“He was such a good trainer that I learnt a lot just from listening mostly and how to handle the horses properly.”

After hanging around the stables as a youngster, Olsen has spent time away from the industry before returning in recent times around the Gympie area.

He commenced his own training tenure in early 2023 after a quick refresher course under top local conditioner Barry Gill.  

Gill is a multiple champion of the leading trainer crown at Gympie.

Much like Olsen’s time around Griffiths and Doyle, he absorbed as much knowledge as possible.

“It's just something that I've always wanted to do, working with horses,” he said.

“It was just an itch I had to scratch. Barry Gill let me hang around for, I think it was around two-and-a-half years.

“I was with Barry and we had a bit of fun along the way and I got my hand back into the game, really, that way.

“Just the way to get to the races and handle horses and working with them. He's taught me a lot.”

When Olsen took out his own training licence a couple of years ago, he wouldn’t have dreamt of the success he has quickly achieved with Primary Witness.

The Star Witness gelding was a maiden runner when he arrived in Gympie and a short time later, he has two of the most prestigious races on the local racing calendar on his resume.

The six-year-old gelding also qualified for the decider of the Country Cups Challenge late last year, but Olsen opted to not head to the city for the rich race.

To claim the 2025 Gympie Cup and the Nolan Muster Cup, which was held on a TAB program, it was a surreal end to Primary Witness’ last campaign for Olsen and his family.

“They were something special” he said.

“Especially the way he went about it in the Gympie Cup, I feel quite blessed to have him.

“It was something special for me, especially for family and friends that are involved as well. It was really special. 

"The Gympie Cup, I had my kids with me, everyone was there, family, friends.

“It was really something good. I was quite proud of it to be lucky enough to have a horse doing that so early in my career.

“It was really good. It feels like a bit of hard work's paid off.”

Olsen is plotting his 2026 campaign with Primary Witness as he aims to add to his eight career wins with more Cup events in mind.

He is keen to add more gallopers into his stable as he looks ahead to the racing season ahead.

“Training out of Gympie is quite good. It's pretty quiet, very mellow, there's nothing really hectic going on here and you can get your horses worked pretty quiet and consistently,” he said.

“I've just got to be patient and wait and see what comes.”