The man who put a Kimberley arts group on the world map with his wandjina Namarali at the Sydney 2000 Olympics opening ceremony has died aged 75.

Worrorra Elder D Woolagoodja was a highly respected artist who championed cultural knowledge and maintenance of the wandjina, a sacred creation spirit found painted in rock caves throughout the northern Kimberley.

When his 35m wandjina Namarali was hoisted in the middle of the Sydney Olympic Stadium on September 15, 2000 infront of a global audience of 3.7bn people it sparked a huge surge of interest for paintings from Mowanjum which remains to this day.

His works also featured on the sails of the Sydney Opera House in 2016, and in 2021 Mr Woolagoodja was bestowed the prestigious Red Ochre Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the arts.

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Other winners of the Red Ochre include the late Uncle Jack Charles, D Gulpilil, Archie Roach and Jimmy Chi.

Mr Woolagoodja was born on Country at Kunmunya Mission before being moved to Mowanjum as a child.

His father was described as the last Worrorra law and medicine man.

Prior to his death in 1979, he granted Mr Woolagoodja permission to paint Namarali, a wandjina he described in 2002 as "the biggest boss of all the wandjinas, like a president".

The Worrorra people believe Namarali was the sovereign wandjina who brought law to coastal people before being speared in a tribal battle and buried in a cave.

Mr Woolagoodja wanted to paint Namarali to revive his culture; he had feared Worrora custodians were forgetting their wandjinas, whose rock paintings need to be maintained to ensure protection of Country.

His works are held by the National Museum of Australian, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Berndt Museum of Anthropology and UWA.

Mowanjum is a community near Derby made up of Worrorra, Ngarinyin and Wunumbal people who found a new home together after being removed from Country.

The arts centre at the community is one of Australia's best-known and last year unveiled a new museum dedicated to preserving wandjina cultural knowledge.