Nigel Gould unveiled his Archibald entry portrait at Albury Library Museum in front of about 70 family, friends and other mental health advocates such as Annette and Stuart Baker.

Simply titled Gouldy, the portrait by Mount Macedon artist Kay Le Vannais depicts Mr Gould's charity work, mental health advocacy and his contribution to Australia's mining industry.

Mr Gould is well known for his work with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Movember, the Black Dog Institute and RUOK?

He said Le Vannais had done an incredible job to incorporate so much storytelling into the portrait.

"There are stories and stories within that," he said.

"Most importantly, the RUOK message is there smaller in the middle, showing sometimes it's right in front of us but we don't always see it.

"My motto is: It's OK not to be OK, but it's also OK to get help."

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Mr Gould has been a strong advocate for mental health within the mining industry, and is heavily involved as a long-time Mining and Energy Union member.

Melbourne-based Mr Gould travels to Rio Tinto's Yandicoogina iron ore mine near Newman in the Pilbara as a fly-in, fly-out miner.

He oversees the running of the pit's big autonomous trucks and is a peer support officer, helping workers struggling with mental health issues, often exacerbated by living away from home for weeks at a time.

"Since COVID-19, the problem has only got worse," Mr Gould said.

"I have never been so busy as a peer support worker.

"In general anxiety is through the roof as people get back out again; like I tell my kids, you've just got to take a risk, take a punt."

Mr Gould was encouraged to sit for the Archibald portrait entry by a man who credited him with saving his life.

He said he had given the man a peer support phone number when he was at his lowest point.

"At the time he was probably thinking: 'Who's this d***head giving me a card dressed in a kilt in the Pilbara?!" he said.

"He's since gone on to do great things and he wanted me to get my mental health message out to a bigger audience because he could see I was doing it for the right reasons. The message is resonating far and wide because the problem is global."

Together with his wife Christine, Mr Gould has five children and seven grandchildren.

He ran for the federal seat of Mitchell as a Labor candidate during 2010.

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