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
The annual public hearing of Germany’s intelligence chiefs is normally a tedious affair: Bureaucrats read prepared statements. Politicians ask predictable questions. Read more
Last week, at Wellington’s Koru Lounge, I discovered Air New Zealand’s latest contribution to aviation safety. My request was simple: a whisky, neat. Read more
In this episode, Oliver Hartwich talks to Nick Clark about his new report reviewing New Zealand’s MMP electoral system after 30 years. They examine quirks that have emerged over recent elections — from delayed results that stall coalition talks to by-elections creating extra seats, overhangs expanding Parliament beyond 120 MPs, and outdated election-day restrictions despite most people voting early. Read more
This webinar launches “MMP After 30 Years: Time for Electoral Reform?”, a report by Nick Clark proposing practical updates to make New Zealand’s MMP work better. Hosted by Dr Oliver Hartwich and featuring David Farrar (foreword author; political commentator and pollster), the discussion canvasses a four-year parliamentary term, expanding Parliament to 170 MPs with stronger select committees, moving to a 50:50 electorate–list split to avoid overhangs, modestly lowering the party-vote threshold while retaining the one-seat pathway, abolishing by-elections (filling vacancies from lists), repealing waka-jumping rules, and streamlining special-vote processing with consistent campaign rules across the whole voting period — drawing on international comparisons and lessons from the 2023 election. Read more
We all know the Greek myth about Sisyphus, condemned to roll his boulder endlessly uphill, only to watch it tumble back down each time he nears the summit. These images come to mind when I look at one of the ministers in New Zealand’s current government: Louise Upston. Read more
Labour wants to funnel Crown dividends into a new sovereign wealth fund restricted to domestic investments. The stated goal is to boost domestic risk capital, but the design is terrible. Read more
Every country has sacred cows: government programmes beyond criticism even when failing. Britain has the NHS, Australia has Medicare. Read more
Dr Oliver Hartwich talked to Sean Plunket on The Platform about Labour's Future Fund proposal, explaining how it differs from New Zealand First's similarly named policy and noting it lacks detail on funding and operations. Dr Hartwich highlighted contradictions between the fund's dual mandate, compared it unfavourably to Singapore's Temasek Fund, and identified protecting state assets from privatisation as the real political purpose behind the proposal. Read more
I must confess, I am something of a literary philistine. So, when I heard this week that László Krasznahorkai had won the Nobel Prize for Literature, I had no idea who he was. Read more
In this episode, Oliver talks to Bryce Wilkinson about his new report examining Kāinga Ora, New Zealand's largest social housing provider, which manages around 78,000 units housing 200,000 people at a cost of roughly $2 billion annually to taxpayers. Bryce argues that the government could better support vulnerable New Zealanders by transitioning away from direct housing provision towards voucher schemes and other market-based alternatives that give tenants more choice whilst reducing costs. Read more
This webinar launches "Owning Less to Achieve More: Refocusing Kāinga Ora", a report by Dr Bryce Wilkinson arguing that government should fund people, not property. Hosted by Dr Oliver Hartwich and featuring the Rt Hon Sir Bill English (former Prime Minister; chair of the 2024 Independent Review of Kāinga Ora), the discussion explores how separating funding from ownership through voucher-style support, releasing under-utilised land, and diversifying providers could lift housing outcomes, restore fiscal sustainability, and empower tenants—drawing on OECD practice and New Zealand’s social investment approach. Read more
In early September, I warned that France’s politics could ignite Europe’s financial powder keg. The fuse, I suggested, might be lit when Prime Minister François Bayrou faced an inevitable confidence vote, which he would lose. Read more
In this episode, Oliver talks to Michael Johnston about New Zealand's productivity paradox and why the country underperforms economically despite having strong institutions. They discuss lessons from small European countries like Switzerland, Ireland, Denmark, and the Netherlands, exploring how factors like decentralisation, foreign direct investment, trade integration, and national culture could help improve New Zealand's economic performance. Read more
“We have no money, so we shall have to think.” That line is ascribed to New Zealand physicist Ernest Rutherford before he cracked the atom. The country’s current Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon and his Finance Minister Nicola Willis face a rather different conundrum, albeit under the same constraint: How do you deliver modern infrastructure when Treasury’s 2025 long-term fiscal statement projects government debt reaching 200 per cent of GDP by 2065? Read more
In this episode, Oliver talks to Eric Crampton, the New Zealand Initiative's chief economist, about his latest report Building Nations examining Canadian First Nations' experiences with autonomous land development and what New Zealand might learn from them. They discuss how Canadian reserves transformed from heavily regulated, impoverished areas into thriving self-governing communities that are now solving urban housing crises through major development projects like the Squamish Nation's apartment towers in downtown Vancouver. Read more
