He is a qualified engineer and businessman with an extensive background in infrastructure and construction. Wayne Brown was born and raised in Auckland. He is a qualified engineer and businessman with an extensive background in governance. Brown was board chair of Vector and then Transpower, pulling each out of major system failures that he had previously foreshadowed. He was then chair of the Nor
thland District Health Board, the first chair to break even without service cuts. Brown was the commissioner appointed to rescue Tairāwhiti DHB before becoming chair of Auckland DHB, where he oversaw the completion of the $500 million Auckland City Hospital project on time and on budget. Brown was a two-term Mayor of the Far North District Council. He was also the founding chair of Kordia and director of Brown & Thomson Consulting Engineers, CableTalk, TVNZ, and Māori TV, among other companies. Brown is the author of a book, “The Five-Minute MBA” (2007). He was elected Mayor of Auckland in October 2022. In his spare time, Brown is a keen surfer and feels passionate about the marine environment. He is a patron of the Sea Cleaners Charitable Trust, a non-profit organisation working to preserve New Zealand’s coastline. With the help of volunteers, Sea Cleaners has removed over 14.6 million litres of waste from New Zealand waterways since 2002.
