17 February 2000
The Prime Minister, in consultation with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has today approved the appointment of Mr Len Cook as National Statistician and Director of the Office for National Statistics. Mr Cook, currently Government Statistician and Chief Executive for Statistics New Zealand, has been appointed following an open competition. He will take up the post at the end of May.
Notes for Editors
Len Cook is aged 50. He is a professional statistician, with a strong background in managing economic, population and social statistics, including population censuses. Len Cook has been the head of New Zealand’s statistical office since 1992. Previously, he had been Deputy Government Statistician, and has been at Statistics New Zealand since 1971. Len Cook has provided statistical and managerial leadership in economic, social and population statistics. He has been active in implementing new management forms and processes for official statistics in New Zealand and significantly upgrading the nature of public statistical services, including internet, media and researcher services. Len Cook has been actively involved in a variety of professional bodies in New Zealand and overseas, and has been a member of the Royal Statistical Society (ex MIS) since 1973.
Len Cook has been involved in many advisory groups involved with public policy, including being a member of a Royal Commission on Social Policy, and an advisor to government task forces and reviews on taxation, superannuation, social science research and population policy. He has given presentations and papers on the application of official statistics to public policy, statistical organisation, superannuation, population and economic trends, to government forums, and community and professional bodies. Len Cook is on the management board of the Equal Employment Opportunity Trust (EEO), and has been active in improving EEO policy. He has chaired a group of Chief Executives leading Government strategies in the New Zealand public sector.
Len Cook and his partner of 20 years, who is a systems analyst, have no children. He was born in Dunedin. He attended Henley Management Centre in 1989, and INSEAD in 1998. Len Cook enjoys fly fishing, languages (French and Mäori), travel, and hiking.
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