Bowls North Harbour Welcome Brett O’Riley as our Patron

  • June 28, 2022

Brett O’Riley has kindly accepted the Board’s offer of him becoming our new Patron for Bowls North Harbour.

He certainly doesn’t need introducing and please find below a brief summary of Brett’s achievements and current roles both Commercially and within Bowls.

Brett O’Riley is chief executive of the EMA (Employers and Manufacturers Association in New Zealand), having commenced in that role in January 2019. He is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington, with post graduate qualifications from MIT (Boston) and Singularity University (San Jose). He returned to New Zealand from Australia in 2009 and has spent the last 12 years dedicated to the goal of growing the capability of New Zealand businesses and the innovation eco-system, as founding CEO of the NZICT industry association, founding deputy CE of the Ministry of Science + Innovation, and as chief executive of economic development agency Auckland Tourism, Events & Economic Development.

Brett has played bowls since he was a teenager, played in the New Zealand Emerging Players team in 1991 and has been runner-up in the New Zealand National Singles and National Fours. He has been a bowls journalist and broadcaster throughout this time, is a member of SSI, and has played bowls in many countries around the world over the years. Brett was vice chair and then chairperson of the Professional Bowls Association between 2002 and 2008, and served as a Director of World Bowls Tour during this time, while also involved in the running of the PBA New Zealand branch. He was also briefly an observer on the World Bowls board as the PBA representative during the presidency of Australia’s Betty Collins.

More recently Brett has served on the Bowls New Zealand board. Brett is an active member of the Takapuna Bowling Club where he is selection convener and a match committee member, and he is a member of the Bowls North Harbour Representative Open Men’s selection panel, having retired from representative play last season.

Brett has recently taken over the role of Regional Director for the Oceania Region, replacing Australia’s Darryl Clout, the recently elected World President.

It is an Honour for Bowls North Harbour to have such an outstanding figurehead as our new Patron.