Dirk Tissera, whose prefered title for this article is “Sir Christopher Ondaatje (1933-2026): A Story-teller Par Excellence– Memories don’t Leave like People do” …. NB: the highlights are an editorial imposition
From being wealthy to poor and back to wealthy again, Sir Philip Christopher Ondaatje (93), the Sri Lankan-born-English Knight and Canadian businessman, philanthropist, adventurer, writer and bob-sledding Olympian for Canada, passed away on July 20, 2026.
Contributing Editor and Patron of The Sri Lankan Anchorman in Toronto, a monthly English tabloid established in 2002, Sir Christopher contributed his fascinating stories to every issue since the paper’s inception.
DIRK with Christopher
The Ondaatje presence in The Anchorman elevated modern storytelling and journalism above today’s commonplace mud-slinging and petty politics.Sir Christopher always steered clear of politics and never indulged in it.
He was 72 years and had just finished writing his absorbing literary masterpiece Woolf in Ceylon – an Imperial Journey in the Shadow of Leonard Woolf 1904-1911 when he gave me an exclusive interview from Chester, Nova Scotia in 2005. “It is my last book definitely and certainly my best,” Ondaatje told The Sri Lankan Anchorman then.
Woolf in Ceylon hit the book stands on October 1, 2005 in the UK. Ondaatje’s insight and compelling commentary on the life and times of Leonard Woolf combined with a powerful blend of historical pictures, is a keepsake every Sri Lankan should possess. This book showcased Ondaatje’s rare ability to translate raw emotional truth into delicate, precise prose.
“You will see that there are a lot of similarities between Woolf and myself – even though we were born over half a century apart. After a decent English education, each of us was shipped off to another country to make our own way. Woolf to Ceylon (where I was born) and I to Canada,” Ondaatje said with emotion.
“Both of us made a considerable success of our careers – but each of us then gave everything up to concentrate on publishing and writing. (Also anyone who reads Woolf in Ceylon will realize – both of us were ‘outsiders’ and had to learn the game of hard knocks.”)
Woolf in Ceylonis not just a travelogue. It is a very personal biography as well as a literary critique of Woolf’s (literacy) in Ceylon.
Sir Christopher Ondaatje, is amazingly the only person who took the trouble to research and go into Beddegama, a jungle today, after Woolf wrote his first novel, the best selling Village in the Jungle, which was published in 1913.
Ondaatje’s exploits are many, both on the business and sporting field. From the late 80’s to early 90’s he sold all his business interests and went back to writing, where he broke new ground as a respected book reviewer and a writer of thought-provoking books dealing with significant biographical, historical and geographical events.
He was named an Officer, Order of Canada in 1993 and has received three LL.Ds., honoris causa, one from Dalhouise University in 1994, the second from the University of Buckingham in 2003, and a third from Exeter University in 2003. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s birthday honours list, June 2000, and awarded a Knighthood in the Queen’s honours list, June 2003.
Ondaatje was a member of Canada’s 1964 Bobsled Team (Thrill Seekers). The team comprised, Vic Emery, Lamont Gordon, John Emery, Charles Rathged Jr., Peter Kirby, Chris Ondaatje, Gordon Currie, Dave Hobart and Doug Anakin. They won a gold medal in the four-man competition at the Commonwealth Games and captured Canada’s only Olympic gold medal of the 1964 Games. It was Canada’s first gold in bobsledding.
“We trained at Lake Placid for the Olympics,” he recalled, of that golden era.
Ondaatje has basked in glory and enjoyed a reasonably ‘quiet and sedate’ life in England, UK. “I am in real good shape and feel much better than 10 years ago”, he said. “I have no health problems and I keep myself fit.”
Ondaatje married his Latvian wife, Lady Valda in 1959 who he met in Montreal. He started off his journalism career working for a Montreal magazine selling advertising and wrote a column for the Financial Post later.
He has three children, son David, who is a script writer in the Hollywood movie industry, and daughters Seira and Jans, and twelve grand children.
The former millionaire businessman and now modern-day explorer and writer and patron of the arts, left Sri Lanka in 1947 to go to school in England – Blundell’s School in Tiverton (1947–1951). He worked in the City of London and emigrated to Canada in 1956. He was a keen follower of cricket, tennis and sailing.
Ondaatje played cricket representing the United Bank in the UK. He also played rugby and was involved in athletics. When in Canada he played cricket for the Toronto Cricket Council. In Sri Lanka he studied at St. Thomas’ Guruthalawa.
Ondaatje made his fortune in publishing and administered his own charitable foundation and actively supported a number of UK organizations. He was the benefactor of the National Portrait Gallery, where the $36.28 million new Ondaatje wing named in his honour, was opened by the Queen in 2000.
“When I left Ceylon in 1947 I never saw my father again,” Ondaatje said with a lump in his throat. His father, an alcoholic died when he fell and crushed his head on a stone. “I saw my mother after five years.”
Perhaps those were the years which drove Ondaatje to be the person he was. “I’ve accomplished my dreams,” he said.
Politics was never Ondaatje’s cup of tea. “I did not have interest in politics,” he says adding “Sri Lanka has too rich a culture to be engulfed in petty politics.”
AN EMPHATIC “NO”
Asked if he will someday decide to go back and reside in Sri Lanka – Ondaatje responded with an emphatic “No”.
Woolf in Ceylon is surely one of Ondaatje’s best books, although the Prime Ministers of Canada sold over 600,000 copies and Journey Source of the Nile reached 400,000. His other books are Hemingway in Africa, Olympic Victory, Leopard in the Afternoon, Sindh Revisited and Man-Eater of Punanai.
Meanwhile, the Cambridge Society in the UK is joining forces with the Ceylon Bloomsbury Group to present a day of fascinating talks built around the book The Village in the Jungle by Woolf, founder of the Hogarth Press.
My wife Michelle and I had the opportunity of meeting Sir Christopher on many occasions both in England and Canada. In 2007 he invited us to lunch in London near Sloane Square and Lower Sloane Street in Chelsea when we were there on a short visit. On the menu was a typical Sri Lankan meal spread – string hoppers, beef and fish curry, pol sambol, potato curry and a variety of other delicious delicacies.
I was in touch with Sir Christopher not too long ago. Quite recently he told me from the Bahamas: “Dear Dirk, I went to the Cleaveland Clinic and had heart surgery for a valve replacement. I’m feeling lousy now,” with a slight slurring of speech. “My legs ache like mad, but I will be ok soon.”
Last year in 2025, I asked Sir Christopher to send The Anchorman a message on its 21st Anniversary. This is what he said:
A WONDERFUL ACHIEVEMENT – CONGRATULATIONS ANCHORMAN
“Congratulations to Dirk Tissera and Michelle Tissera and The Sri Lankan Anchorman on this their 21st anniversary.
It is a wonderful achievement.
These are tough times in the publishing industry, and an even tougher responsibility to report the news impartially on an island that has been ravaged by devastating floods.
The Sri Lankan Anchorman has done this and has gained respect and international recognition around the world.
Their timely and personal news stories are the envy of Sri Lankan magazines and newspapers everywhere.
Well done! Canada is lucky to be able to get their Island news first hand.
– Sir Christopher Ondaatje
Author The Man-Eater of Punanai
From Sri Lanka (Ceylon) to England, (London and Glenthorne), Canada (Nova Scotia) and the Bahamas, Sir Christopher lived a fabulous life.
I think his heart broke when he sold ‘The most beautiful spot on Earth’ in 2018, when he put Glenthorne his sprawling mansion on the market.
“Glenthorne, Sir Christopher Ondaatje’s picturesque house on the hilly north Devon coast that incorporates the best of Georgian, Tudor and ‘mystical Gothic” – Penny Churchill.
Writing in the magazine on August 9, 2001, Sir Christopher reflected on his lifelong love affair with Exmoor and the enduring fascination of his ‘mystical Gothic manor house’, Grade II-listed Glenthorne at Countisbury, near Lynton, north Devon, which he and his wife rescued from dereliction in 1985.
With his nearest neighbour some seven miles away, the gloriously secluded house, set in 77 wooded acres overlooking the dramatic west Somerset coastline, had been an oasis of peace and tranquility – a welcome escape from ‘the hurly-burly of city life’.
Our Deepest Sympathies go out to his wife, Lady Valda, children, David, Seira and Jans, all his grandchildren, sister Gillian and brother Michael.
MAY SIR CHRISTOPHER ONDAATJE’S BEAUTIFUL SOUL REST IN ETERNAL PEACE … MEMORIES DON’T LEAVE LIKE PEOPLE DO!
Below are the books written by Sir Christopher:
OLYMPIC VICTORY: The story behind the Canadian Bob-Sled Club’s incredible victory at the 1964 Winter Olympic Games (1967)
THE PRIME MINISTERS OF CANADA, 1867–1967 (1968)
LEOPARD IN THE AFTERNOON — An Africa Tenting Safari (1989)
THE MAN-EATER OF PUNANAI — a Journey of Discovery to the Jungles of Old Ceylon (1992)
SINDH REVISITED: A Journey in the Footsteps of Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton (1996)
JOURNEY TO THE SOURCE OF THE NILE (1999)
HEMINGWAY IN AFRICA: The Last Safari (2004)
WOOLF IN CEYLON: An Imperial Journey in the Shadow of Leonard Woolf, 1904–1911 (2005)
THE POWER OF PAPER: A History, a Financial Adventure and a Warning (2007)
THE GLENTHORNE AND OTHER AMAZING LEOPARD STORIES (2008)
THE LAST COLONIAL: Curious Adventures & Stories from a Vanishing World (2011)
LOVE DUET AND OTHER CURIOUS STORIES ABOUT MUSIC. Minehead, Somerset: Rare Books and Berry. (2013)
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