John Stewart Ombler is a New Zealand public servant. He served as deputy State Services Commissioner from 2008 until 2014, and briefly in 2019, and as the controller of the all-of-government response during the 2020

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

Career

Ombler joined the New Zealand National Parks and Reserves Authority (part of the

Department of Lands and Survey The Department of Lands and Survey was a former government department in New Zealand that managed the administration of Crown land and its survey and mapping requirements. History Establishment The department was established in 1876 with the appo ...

) in 1975, transitioning to the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

when it was formed in 1987. He was a conservator in

Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whang ...

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region ...

and

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

, before being appointed as a regional general manager in 1997. While based at

Pipiriki Pipiriki is a settlement in New Zealand, on the east bank of the Whanganui River, due west of the town of Raetihi and upriver from Whanganui; it was originally on the opposite bank. It is the home of Ngāti Kura, a hapū of the Ngāti Ruanui iw ...

on the

Whanganui River The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natura ...

in the early 1980s, Ombler and his then-wife Kathy co-wrote books about both the river and the Whanganui River Road. In 2007, Ombler joined the

State Services Commission The Public Service Commission (PSC; Māori: ''Te Kawa Mataaho''), called the State Services Commission until 2020, is the central public service department of New Zealand charged with overseeing, managing, and improving the performance of the ...

. The following year, he was appointed acting deputy State Services Commissioner, and he was confirmed in that role in 2009. As deputy State Services Commissioner, Ombler was the interim chief executive officer of the

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA; Māori: ''Te Mana Haumanu ki Waitaha'') was the public service department of New Zealand charged with coordinating the rebuild of Christchurch and the surrounding areas following the 22 Februa ...

(CERA) at its establishment following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Ombler returned to CERA as acting chief executive officer on 1 December 2014, taking over from Roger Sutton, and remained in that role until the agency was dissolved in 2016. In November 2017, Ombler was appointed to conduct an inquiry under the auspices of the State Services Commission into financial irregularities at the

Waikato District Health Board The Waikato District Health Board (Waikato DHB) is a district health board with the focus on providing healthcare to the Waikato region of New Zealand. History The Waikato District Health Board, like most other district health boards, came into ...

. In 2019, Ombler returned as deputy State Services Commissioner on a temporary basis between February and June while a permanent appointee was sought. In June 2019, he carried out an investigation into the actions and statements of chief executive and secretary to the Treasury,

Gabriel Makhlouf Gabriel Makhlouf is a British economist who has served as the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland since September 2019. He was previously Secretary to the New Zealand Treasury and Private Secretary to then British Chancellor of the Excheque ...

, regarding unauthorised access to sensitive material related to the

2019 New Zealand budget Budget 2019, dubbed the Wellbeing Budget, was the name given to the New Zealand budget for fiscal year 2019/20 presented to the New Zealand Parliament of New Zealand, House of Representatives by Finance Minister (New Zealand), Finance Minister Gran ...

. During the 2020

COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand The COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first case of the disease in New Zealand was reported on 28 February ...

, Ombler was appointed controller of the all-of-government response and, in that capacity, was a deputy chief executive of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. He left that role in late 2020. In April 2021, Local Government Minister

Nanaia Mahuta Nanaia Cybele Mahuta (born 21 August 1970) is a New Zealand politician who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hauraki-Waikato and serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Sixth Labour Government since 2020. She is also the Minister o ...

announced Ombler would be a panel member of the Government's independent review of

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-lo ...

Honours

In the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours, Ombler was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

, for services to the State. In the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to the public service.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ombler, John Year of birth missing (living people) Living people New Zealand public servants Companions of the Queen's Service Order Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit