Board of Directors

Nick Olson

Chair

Michael Burtscher

Deputy Chair

Henry Tait

Tom Whyte

Family Director

Rebecca Turner

Family Director

Sir Bill English KNZM

Independent Director

David Flacks

Independent Director

Nick Olson

Independent Director
BEng, CA

Nick was appointed to the Board in July 2022 and elected as Chair in 2022. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Auckland and is a Chartered Accountant.

Nick has served in senior finance roles at Todd, where he was Group CFO for six years. He was previously the CFO of some of New Zealand’s most substantial and complex businesses, including Transpower (acting), Telecom, and Fletcher Building. He was 2012 CFO of the Year (New Zealand).

Nick has a background in debt capital markets and leveraged finance and worked for both Credit Suisse First Boston and JP Morgan Chase Hong Kong from 1998 to 2001. In his corporate career Nick has significant mergers and acquisitions and debt raising experience in the New Zealand and international markets. In addition, he has led the end-to-end transformation and re-organisation of a number of substantial finance functions.

Michael Burtscher

Family Director

Michael was appointed to the Board in November 2022. Michael has had a twenty-five year career in agriculture, property, and investment; with a focus on agricultural development, commercial property acquisitions, management and sales, land use planning, and strategic investment.

Currently he is Managing Director of a property company, and a Director and Chair of a technology, innovation and solutions company based in New Zealand and the USA. Michael lives in the Canterbury region. 

Henry Tait

Family Director
MA (OXON)

Henry was appointed to the Board in 1997. He gained a wide range of experience in the investment banking sector with Fay Richwhite in New Zealand and Credit Suisse First Boston in Australia (now Jarden & Co), where he specialised in financial institutions' restructuring, and investment in a wide range of industries.

Currently, Henry is Principal of Tingwall Capital, which provides capital for companies, products and management. He is a Director of Fresh to Go (food processor), Connovation (conservation), Snowplanet (leisure, CEO 2010/11), and the Sparkbox Venture Group, a leading angel investment and advisory group. Henry also has investments in forestry, insurance, consumer brands and football.

Tom Whyte

Family Director
BCom

Tom was appointed to the Board in March 2017. Tom has considerable experience in the investment industry, having worked for a hedge fund in the United Kingdom where he was involved in equity and bond derivatives and foreign exchange. He also spent several years with Westpac Institutional Bank in New Zealand. Tom resides in Marlborough where he has viticultural and horticultural interests.

Tom is a Director of Todd Family Office and previously was Chair of the Todd Family Council. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Otago University and is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Directors. 

Rebecca Turner

Family Director

Rebecca was appointed to the Board in 2021. She has over 20 years’ experience as a principal in property development, and as chair or trustee in primary processing and local government reorganisation. Rebecca has a particular interest in sustainability and in community based advancement initiatives and is experienced in leading community interaction with local, regional and central government.

Rebecca has been involved in governance roles in the Todd family at many levels. As Chair of the Family Council from 2008 to 2010, she was involved in the establishment of the Todd Family Office. She was a member of the Family Council from its inception until 2010. Appointed Chair of the Todd Foundation in 2020, she has been on the board since 2015. Rebecca also provides volunteering, mentoring and leadership support to a number of New Zealand charities, particularly focused on youth, community development and sustainability.

Sir Bill English KNZM

Independent Director
BCom, BA (Hons), Hon. DCom, Hon. LLD

Sir Bill was appointed to the Board following the AGM in May 2021.

Bill is a director of Wesfarmers Limited (a large Australian listed conglomerate), Manawanui Support Limited (disability services and support), The Instillery Group Limited (technology) and Chair of Impact Lab Limited (technology) and of Mount Cook Alpine Salmon Limited (food).

Bill was Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand from October 2008 to December 2016 and Prime Minister until the change of government in October 2017. He retired from parliament in March 2018 after guiding the New Zealand economy through the global financial crisis. He initiated tax reforms, capital disciplines for the public balance sheet and financing the rebuild of Christchurch after the 2010 earthquakes. As Minister for Infrastructure he oversaw significant investment in digitalising government and improving customer experience of public services.

Bill was Minister of Health from 1996 to 1999 and has also held ministerial roles in education, housing, and revenue since his election to Parliament in 1990. He has long-term interests in economic restructuring, sound microeconomic policy, and social policy reform.

David Flacks

Independent Director
BA (Hons), MA (Hons), St John’s College, Cambridge University

David was appointed to the Board in 2020. David was born and raised in the UK. After graduating in law from Cambridge University, he worked in London for seven years for two law firms including well-known Slaughter and May. David moved to New Zealand in 1984 and began working for Bell Gully in its Wellington office on corporate law matters. After nine years at Bell Gully, David accepted the role of General Counsel and Company Secretary at Carter Holt Harvey (CHH), at the time New Zealand’s second largest company. While David enjoyed his four years at CHH, he returned to private practice at Bell Gully in Auckland in 1997, where he stayed for the next 17 years until retiring from the firm in 2014. His work during this time was mainly in mergers and acquisitions, corporate advisory and initial public offerings.

While at Bell Gully David became member of the NZX Markets Disciplinary Tribunal in 2008, which he Chaired from 2014 to 2017. He was also a member of the Takeovers Panel from 2011 to 2016. Over the last five years David has become a professional director and is chair of AFT Pharmaceuticals and Suncorp New Zealand group of companies and on the board of Harmoney Corp, Zero Invasive Predators and Project Janszoon Trust. David was deputy chair of the NZ Venture Investment Fund.