Painter, draughtsman and teacher who studied at North Staffordshire Polytechnic, 1974–7, and Royal College of Art, 1978–81. During 1983–4 he was artist-in-residence at the National Gallery, at which time he was praised for figurative allegories. Then he decided to withdraw from exhibiting for a while, during which time he developed his own iconographic language as seen in his solo show of Spanish Chapel Pictures at Art Space Gallery, 1994. He had begun showing solo at New Art Centre, 1983. Group exhibitions included Consort Gallery, 1981; Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, 1987; and Albertina Museum, Vienna, 1993. O’Brien became senior lecturer in painting at Leeds Metropolitan University.