John Allen

John Allen is the chief executive of WellingtonNZ.

LLB Well

John Allen has been a member of Council for seven years, during which time he was Chancellor from 2022 until February 2025.  Mr Allen takes up the position of Chief Ombudsman on 31 March 2025 and as a legal requirement of this role he has resigned from Council and all other boards effective 21 March 2025.

Mr Allen is an experienced company director and the chief executive of WellingtonNZ.

Previously Mr Allen chaired the University Council’s People and Culture Committee, the Nominations Panel, and the Victoria Honours Committee. He is a trustee on the Victoria University of Wellington Foundation Board and a director on of the Wellington UniProfessional Board.

Mr Allen is a former chief executive of the New Zealand Racing Board, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade, and the New Zealand Post Group. He is also a former partner in the law firm Rudd Watts & Stone.

Mr Allen chairs the board of Barnardos. He was previously co-chair of the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum as well as a director on a number of boards, including CreativeHQ, Te Papa Tongarewa, Datacom, Kiwibank, the New Zealand Stroke Foundation, the Nikau Foundation, and the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts.

Mr Allen is an alumnus of the University and has previously been a visiting lecturer in the Faculty of Law. He received a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2006. Mr Allen was appointed to the University Council in 2018 and assumed the chancellorship in 2022.

Current Term

1 January 2022—31 December 2025

Previous Terms

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