10 Facts About Roy McKenzie

Roy McKenzie was born in Wellington but went to school at Timaru Boys' High School and attended the University of Otago.

Roy McKenzie was captain of the New Zealand ski team in the 1952 Winter Olympics, the first Winter Olympics that New Zealand entered; though as he was injured he did not compete.

Roy McKenzie worked as a chartered accountant after the war, and was the Executive Director of McKenzies Ltd from 1949 to 1970.

Roy McKenzie served as a director for several other companies.

From 1947 to 1993, Roy McKenzie was on the Board of the J R Roy McKenzie Trust, which had been established by his father in 1940 to distribute a proportion of the profits from his businesses for the benefit of the people of New Zealand.

Roy McKenzie set up two other grant-making bodies: the McKenzie Education Foundation and the Roy McKenzie Foundation.

Roy McKenzie was patron of the Outward Bound Trust, and a councillor at the Council for Educational Research.

In 1978 Roy McKenzie helped found New Zealand's first hospice, Te Omanga.

Roy McKenzie was a benefactor and founding patron of the Seabrook McKenzie Centre, which assists people with specific learning difficulties and their families.

Roy McKenzie was made a Member of the Order of New Zealand in the 1995 Queen's Birthday Honours, and Victoria University of Wellington and Massey University bestowed honorary doctorates upon him.