By Dirk Tissera
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 bobsledding 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. 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 old 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 in the UK on October 1, 2005. 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 Ceylon’ is not just a travelogue. It is a very personal biography as well as a literary critique of Woolf’s writing in Ceylon. Sir Christopher Ondaatje is, remarkably, the only person who took the trouble to research and travel to Beddegama, a jungle today, the setting of Woolf’s first novel, the best-selling ‘The Village in the Jungle,’ published in 1913.
Ondaatje’s exploits are many, both on the business and sporting fields. From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, 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 of the Order of Canada in 1993 and received three honorary LL.Ds – from Dalhousie University in 1994, the University of Buckingham in 2003, and Exeter University in 2003. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of June 2000, and awarded a knighthood in the Queen’s Honours of June 2003.
Ondaatje was a member of Canada’s 1964 Bobsled Team, nicknamed the ‘Thrill Seekers’. The team comprised Vic Emery, Lamont Gordon, John Emery, Charles Rathgeb Jr., Peter Kirby, Chris Ondaatje, Gordon Currie, Dave Hobart and Doug Anakin. They won gold in the four-man competition at the 1964 Winter Olympics – Canada’s only gold medal of those Games, and its first-ever gold in bobsledding.
“We trained at Lake Placid for the Olympics,” he recalled, of that golden era.
Ondaatje basked in glory and enjoyed a reasonably “quiet and sedate” life in England. “I am in real good shape and feel much better than I did 10 years ago,” he said. “I have no health problems, and I keep myself fit.”
He left Sri Lanka in 1947 to attend school in England, at Blundell’s School in Tiverton (1947–1951). He had earlier studied at S. Thomas’ College, Guruthalawa. He later worked in the City of London before emigrating to Canada in 1956, where he began his journalism career selling advertising for a Montreal magazine and later wrote a column for the Financial Post.
Ondaatje married his Latvian wife, Lady Valda, in 1959; the couple met in Montreal. He has three children – son David, a screenwriter in the Hollywood film industry, and daughters Seira and Jans – and twelve grandchildren.
The former millionaire businessman and later explorer, writer and patron of the arts, was a keen follower of cricket, tennis and sailing. He played cricket for United Bank in the UK, as well as rugby, and competed in athletics. In Canada, he played cricket for the Toronto Cricket Club.
Ondaatje made his fortune in publishing, 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 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 after he fell and struck his head on a stone. “I saw my mother after five years.”
Perhaps those were the years that shaped the person he became. “I’ve accomplished my dreams,” he said.
Politics was never Ondaatje’s cup of tea. “I did not have interest in politics,” he said, adding, “Sri Lanka has too rich a culture to be engulfed in petty politics.”
An Emphatic ‘No’
Asked whether he would someday decide to return 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 to the Source of the Nile’ reached 400,000. His other books include ‘Hemingway in Africa,’ ‘Olympic Victory,’ ‘Leopard in the Afternoon,’ ‘Sindh Revisited’ and ‘The Man-Eater of Punanai.’
Meanwhile, the Cambridge Society in the UK is joining forces with the Ceylon Bloomsbury Group to present a day of talks built around Woolf’s ‘The Village in the Jungle,’ the novel that launched 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, with a slight slurring of speech: “Dear Dirk, I went to the Cleveland Clinic and had heart surgery for a valve replacement. I’m feeling lousy now. 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 for its 21st anniversary. This is what he wrote:
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 firsthand.”
– 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 remarkable life. I think his heart broke when he sold ‘the most beautiful spot on Earth’ in 2018, putting Glenthorne, his sprawling mansion, on the market.
“Glenthorne, Sir Christopher Ondaatje’s picturesque house on the hilly north Devon coast, incorporates the best of Georgian, Tudor and ‘mystical Gothic’,” wrote 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’ – the 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 tranquillity – a welcome escape from ‘the hurly-burly of city life.’
Our deepest sympathies go out to his wife, Lady Valda; his children, David, Seira and Jans; all his grandchildren; his sister, Gillian; and his brother, Michael.
May Sir Christopher Ondaatje’s beautiful soul rest in eternal peace … Memories Don’t Leave Like People Do!
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)
-Dirk Tissera is the Publisher and Editor of The Sri Lankan Anchorman. Sir Christopher Ondaatje was a regular contributor to Weekend Express and its magazine ‘The Connoisseur ‘
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