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
It was a perfectly executed transition from one Prime Minister to another. When Jacinda Ardern announced her resignation in January, it took the New Zealand Labour Party only a few days to anoint her successor, Chris Hipkins. Read more
Meetings of the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF) are a regular fixture in the calendars of Australian and New Zealand business leaders and politicians. But their content has also become regular – which is to say, repetitive. Read more
Webinar: Learning from New Zealand's past to build a better future Join us for a webinar as we launch “Paving The Way: Learning from New Zealand’s Past to Build a Better Future.” Everyone is talking about New Zealand's infrastructure deficit. But few people know how successful we once were at delivering big-ticket items like roads, rails and bridges. Read more
Last week marked a significant milestone in Europe’s ongoing struggles to navigate the complex issue of migration. After years of fraught discussions, the European Union (EU) finally reached a consensus on a new refugee policy. Read more
Did we just witness a third transformative Government in New Zealand’s history? Would it be right to compare the administration of former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to the likes of Savage and Lange who’s policies altered the course of New Zealand? Read more
Businesses typically avoid taking a stance on contentious political matters, particularly during election campaigns, and that is what makes this week’s media release from Foodstuffs North Island quite remarkable. In this week’s podcast, Oliver Hartwich is joined by Chris Quin, CEO of Foodstuffs North Island, to delve into the pressing issue of escalating retail crime and lawlessness in New Zealand. Read more
Taking an unusual step, Foodstuffs North Island addressed the escalating retail crime rate in the country in a media release this week. The retailer reported an increase of 38% in retail crime incidents between February and April 2023 compared to the same period last year. Read more
Businesses typically avoid taking a stance on contentious political matters, particularly during election campaigns. That makes this week’s media release from New Zealand’s Foodstuffs North Island quite remarkable. Read more
If there is one constant in New Zealand’s foreign policy, it is its unpredictability. But last week, Defence Minister Andrew Little asserted that New Zealand “knows which side we’re on.” Which was news to us. Read more
New Zealand is globally known as a rich tapestry of cultures, but what does that really mean on the ground and how does it shape the world of business and innovation? It's not just about customs and conventions that we can observe and learn. Read more
Oliver Hartwich joins Nick Cater for an in-depth interview and insightful analysis at the frontline of the ideas war.
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For many years, Germany’s Greens had a good run. They kept increasing their share of the vote in elections at the federal and state levels. Read more
Dr Oliver Hartwich joins Amanda Stoker on The Bolt Report to discuss calls for Australia and New Zealand to set aside their own economic priorities and stop pitting policies against one another and instead work together.
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“There is a lot of ruin in a nation.” It is one of those sayings that is easy to misinterpret. Taking Adam Smith’s famous quote literally, there are so many ways for a country to go wrong. Read more
Let’s imagine a computer game, shall we? It is called ‘Master Lobbyist’, and your job is to play the governments of two countries off against each other. Read more