Oliver is the Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative. Before joining the Initiative, he was a Research Fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney, the Chief Economist at the Policy Exchange in London, and an advisor in the UK House of Lords.
Oliver holds a master's degree in economics and business administration and a PhD in Law from Bochum University in Germany.
Oliver is available to comment on all of the Initiative’s research areas.
Phone: +64 4 499 0790
When I first visited Sydney in 1999, what struck me most were the cranes. They stood over the city in every direction, building towers, stadiums and rail lines for the Olympic Games. Read more
Last week, we co-hosted a dinner with the Selwyn Foundation. Its chair, former Labour health minister David Cunliffe, led the Government's aged care advisory group and presented their report, A place to grow old. Read more
Chris Bishop passed the new Planning Act with one working day to spare, and may not be in the next Parliament to see it work. Damien accused him of regulatory capture earlier this year and now says he has achieved more in three years than most politicians manage in a career. Read more
It is election time in New Zealand and as such, political tragics like myself cannot have any meetings without the conversation turning to the question “And, who will win on 7 November?” But something is different this year. Not just because the election is so tight with both the centre-left and the centre-right bloc neck and neck in the polls. Read more
Three polls landed this week, with National under 30 per cent on the party vote while holding 44 electorate seats, and Opportunity sitting either side of the threshold depending on which poll you read. The question is whether National’s voters have gone tactical or left the party altogether. Read more
Donald Trump’s second term has given Europe one fight after another. Tariffs, Greenland, Ukraine and Iran have all had their turn. Read more
Dr Oliver Hartwich joined Mark Smith on The Intelligence Age podcast to talk about where AI stands in New Zealand. He called 2026 “peak AI” so far, driven by agentic tools that can work through whole projects rather than answer single prompts. Read more
In this episode, Oliver talks to Major General John Howard about Russia's escalating pressure on NATO, the diesel squeeze working its way through global supply chains and why New Zealand's just-in-time fuel system leaves it exposed. They also discuss John's new paper with Dr Reuben Steff on how Cabinet gets its information, before turning to the NZDF personnel whose use of Strava exposed their locations while deployed overseas. Read more
Ten years ago, Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Andrew Butler asked me to speak at the Auckland launch of A Constitution for Aotearoa New Zealand, their first draft. They knew I would not endorse their proposal, which speaks well of them. Read more
The Treasury's pre-election update showed spending up, revenue down and debt rising after three years of a government elected on restraint. Oliver and Damien ask who ends up as finance minister after 7 November, and whether any of them will confront superannuation and interest heading for $44 billion by 2031. Read more
When law firms advise foreign clients on investing in New Zealand, they usually include some version of the same paragraph. It describes the country as a stable democracy with independent courts, secure property rights and predictable politics, and for decades nobody had to think twice before writing it. Read more
Over the past couple of months, we have heard mounting alarm from business leaders about this election campaign. They are asking whether New Zealand still welcomes people willing to invest here. Read more
Nicky Hager's new book on the Taxpayers' Union has had several of its claims publicly contradicted within days of publication. Oliver and Damien discuss the fallout and what it has already cost the organisation. Read more
In two polls taken in the second half of August, One Nation stood five or six points ahead of the Coalition. In a third, it trailed by one. Read more
Our Executive Director Dr Oliver Hartwich joined Ryan Bridge on Newstalk ZB to discuss an open letter signed by around 50 business leaders calling on political parties to respect private property rights, freedom of contract, and lawful agreements. Oliver argued that policies like rewriting already-signed retirement village contracts, cancelling lawfully granted mining approvals, and threatening firms with nationalisation (including National's supermarket break-up plan) form a broader pattern of "post-rational politics," where any policy that polls well with focus groups is fair game, regardless of party or merit. Read more