Dr MacLaren North
Chief Operations Officer
“Being a heritage practitioner gets you into all kinds of places most people never get to see. I’ve climbed pyramids and the facades of cathedrals, squirmed down wells and explored disused tunnels. I’m fascinated by how these strange beasts called cities function, and getting to peak into their concealed guts is always a thrill.”
McLaren North has decades of expertise is in industrial and infrastructure heritage, heritage asset management, and strategic heritage management and policy development. With his knowledge of heritage law, he often acts as an expert witness in legal disputes over heritage issues.
After studying Archaeology and Anthropology at Cornell University in the United States, Mac emigrated to Australia in 1995, where he retrained on the job as an historical and industrial archaeologist. He then worked for the heritage regulator in NSW, as well as for asset-owning agencies, where his role was to bridge the divide between heritage and operations.
In 2006, Mac started Futurepast Heritage Consulting, which then merged to form Extent Heritage in 2016. In 2017, he completed a PhD in Archaeology & Heritage Law, adding a Masters of Environmental Law in 2013.
After five years as Managing Director of Extent Heritage, Mac has now stepped into the Chief Operations Officer role, managing the company’s operations across the country alongside his day-to-day management responsibilities for the Sydney office. He is actively involved in the advocacy for and delivery of the Certified Environmental Practitioner (Heritage) scheme, for which he received a Service Award from the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand in 2021.
