Oliver Hartwich

Dr Oliver Hartwich is the Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative, an independent public policy think tank based in Wellington. Born in Germany, he holds a Master's in Business Administration and Economics as well as a Ph.D. in Law from the University of Bochum.

Before joining The New Zealand Initiative in 2012, Oliver was a Research Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney and Chief Economist at Policy Exchange, a London-based think tank. He also held positions at the House of Lords in the UK Parliament and at the University of Bonn.

At the Initiative, Oliver leads a team researching economic policy, housing, education and local government, and he comments frequently in the media on all of them. His own interests run to housing affordability, the economics of cities and international affairs. He has authored and co-authored several books and reports, among them A Global Perspective on Localism, Why Europe Failed and Quiet Achievers: The New Zealand Path to Reform. He recently published his first satirical novella, The Martian Audit: Or, How New Zealand Repelled an Invasion Through Procedural Complexity.

Under his leadership, the Initiative has become an influential voice in New Zealand's policy debates, arguing for evidence-based policy and market-oriented solutions to the country's problems. Oliver is also a columnist with The Australian, with the New Zealand online magazine Newsroom and with the Australian magazine Quadrant.