Anja Coleby (born Anja Taylor, 30 September 1971) is an Australian model, television actress, reporter and producer.

Early life and education

Anja Coleby was born and raised in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. She graduated with a journalism degree at

Charles Sturt University Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain (British Army and Royal ...

in New South Wales before starting an acting career for about a decade. She later graduated with a science degree at

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

in Sydney and then worked as a researcher for

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

and Becker Entertainment.

Acting career

Anja Coleby has appeared in a number of

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

and

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

series, and in Australian film and television. She was a main cast member of the television series ''

Flipper Flipper may refer to: Common meanings *Flipper (anatomy), a forelimb of an aquatic animal, useful for steering and/or propulsion in water *Swimfins, footwear that boosts human swimming efficiency, also known as flippers * Flipper (cricket), a typ ...

'', playing the character Holly Myers for three seasons. She played a small role as Crystal in the Australian soap opera '' Breakers''. She also appeared as a guest role in Australian television series including the crime drama '' Water Rats'' in 1997, and the medical drama '' All Saints'' in 2002. She also appeared in one episode of each science fiction and adventure series '' The Lost World'' (2000) as Hippolita, ''

Farscape ''Farscape'' is an Australian-American Science fiction on television, science fiction television series conceived by Rockne S. O'Bannon and produced by The Jim Henson Company and Hallmark Entertainment, originally for the Nine Network. It prem ...

'' (2002) as Ponara, and '' BeastMaster'' (2001) as Queen Lyoka. Anja had supporting roles in the television film '' Max Knight: Ultra Spy'' (2000), her only role as a villain, and in the Australian films ''

The Year My Voice Broke ''The Year My Voice Broke'' is a 1987 Australian coming of age drama film written and directed by John Duigan and starring Noah Taylor, Loene Carmen and Ben Mendelsohn. Set in 1962 in the rural Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, it was the ...

'' (1987), ''

Dating the Enemy ''Dating the Enemy'' is a 1996 Australian romantic comedy film written and directed by Megan Simpson Huberman, starring Claudia Karvan and Guy Pearce. It tells the story of a male-female couple in Sydney who swap bodies and have to live each o ...

'' (1996) and '' The Finder'' (2001).

Television career

Anja changed her surname from Coleby to Taylor in 2005 when she began reading the news for Arena TV. She has continued to work in Australian television, and has been a television producer and reporter for the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

science program ''

Catalyst Catalysis () is the increase in rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycles quick ...

'', in which she has been a member of the team since 2006. Since then, Anja has presented and narrated alone a number of small documentaries about different fields such as medicine, nature, technology and education. In addition to being a reporter, Anja has also been a producer and researcher of these episodes among many others. Anja started working in early 2013 with fellow reporters Simon Pampena and

Derek Muller Derek Alexander Muller (born 9 November 1982) is a science communicator and media personality, best known for his YouTube channel Veritasium, which has over 17.8 million subscribers and 3.3 billion views as of April 2025. He currently lives in ...

, presenting many other documentaries and doing an entire trip from Western Australia to Victoria. They started in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

with a ride in an

electric car An electric car or electric vehicle (EV) is a passenger car, passenger automobile that is propelled by an electric motor, electric traction motor, using electrical energy as the primary source of propulsion. The term normally refers to a p ...

, and then went to the gold mine of

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie-Boulder (or just Kalgoorlie) is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder as the surroundi ...

. They moved to

Lake Lefroy Lake Lefroy is a large ephemeral salt lake in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. It is north of Lake Cowan and approximately south of Boulder. The town of Kambalda is on the northern shore and the hamlet of Widgiemooltha ...

to discover the giant

salt lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...

s and then to South Australia to discover Weebubbie Cave, the deepest cave in the

Nullarbor The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of 'no' and 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its no ...

. They discovered the Eucla sand hills, the different species of the desert in Nullarbor, the beach of

Yalata Yalata ( ), in the isolated far west of South Australia, is both an Indigenous Protected Area and, within that, a township of the same name where an Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal community lives. The township is west of Ceduna, South Aus ...

and its mulloway, and went to

Coonawarra wine region The Coonawarra wine region is a wine region centred on the town of Coonawarra in the Limestone Coast zone of South Australia. It is known for the Cabernet Sauvignon wines produced on its " terra rossa" soil. The name has been said to have o ...

to discover its wine. They followed their trip in Victoria to first discover a place in

Warrnambool Warrnambool (; Eastern Maar, Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the Census in Australia#2021, 2021 census, Warrnambool had a populati ...

with penguin patrols who have been threatened by predators like foxes. They then visited a national park invaded of

koala The koala (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), sometimes inaccurately called the koala bear, is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only Extant taxon, extant representative of the Family (biology), family ''Phascolar ...

s, discovered coastal waters of the state of Victoria by mapping underwater, and finally ended in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

flying in a

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carri ...

. After her long Australian roadtrip, Anja has narrated again other documentaries alone.

Modelling

Anja has also briefly modeled for Australian sport magazine ''

Inside Sport ''Inside Sport'' was an Australian sport magazine published by nextmedia. It began publication in 1991 and produced its last issue in June 2020. Its website still exists, essentially as a portal to articles on other Nextmedia-owned sports br ...

'', in which she appeared in a number of swimming suits.

Personal life

Anja is the daughter of actor

Robert Coleby Robert Coleby (born 1947) is a British actor who has spent most of his career in Australia. Active since the 1970s, he has over 70 film and television credits to his name. Coleby has acted on stage in numerous productions for the Queensland The ...

and sister of actor

Conrad Coleby Conrad Julius Coleby (born Conrad Julius Taylor, 20 September 1979) is an Australian actor and photographer, whose roles have included Scott Zinenko on the medical drama '' All Saints'', for which he was nominated for a Logie Award, counsellor ...

. Her father is English and her mother is Swedish.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Profile of Anja Taylor on ABC site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleby, Anja 1971 births Living people Australian female models Models from Sydney Australian television actresses Australian television producers Australian women television producers Australian people of English descent Australian people of Swedish descent Actresses from Sydney Charles Sturt University alumni Macquarie University alumni