Background
Agnew was born 21 September 1930 in the Perth suburb of Nedlands to Robert and Jean Agnew (née Dorothy Jean McHarg Wilson).
Agnew was born 21 September 1930 in the Perth suburb of Nedlands to Robert and Jean Agnew (née Dorothy Jean McHarg Wilson).
Harvard School; Harvard University. Ohio State University
As a boy he attended Perth Modern School where he was a year below then-future Prime Minister Bob Hawke. After graduating he attended the University of Western Australia (University of Western Australia) from 1949 studying engineering.
He eventually chose to attend Ohio State University.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1952.
As a swimmer Agnew represented Australia at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics, as well as the 1950 British Empire Games. After retiring from swimming he entered business, becoming involved in the resources industry in Western Australia. His passage to America involved working in the engine room of a ship between Brisbane and Vancouver.
Two years later he finished a Master of Administration degree at Harvard University in 1954.
As a 17-year-old Agnew went to the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, competing in the 400 metre and 1500 metre freestyle events though he did not make it past the heats. At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, he again competed in the 400 and 1500-metre events, again not advancing past the preliminary heats.
Agnew retired from swimming 1954, citing a desire to enter business. Agnew spent time in 1954 working in Manila with Gus Trippe, an American he met at Harvard.
On returning to Perth in 1955, Agnew was part of a partnership, including Trippe, that purchased a steam boat to ship live cattle from Anna Plains Station in northwest Western Australia to The Philippines.
This was the first time cattle had been shipped live out of the state. He soon extended his business interests to mining salt and iron ore. In 1977 Mount Enid Mining Company, controlled by Agnew, sold its interests in the Robe River mining project for over A$21 million.
Agnew was a keen fisherman.
He regularly made a trip of over 4,800 kilometres (3,000 mi) from Perth to Cairns to catch large fish. In 1983 he set a Western Australian record when he caught a 319 kg (703 lb) Pacific blue marlin.
He was inducted into the International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame in 2003. Agnew died in 1987 of a heart attack after swimming at the University of Western Australia swimming pool.
He was a member of the Ohio State branch of Phi Beta Kappa Society.