Sir Graeme Seton Avery (born 18 June 1941) is a New Zealand businessman and philanthropist. After training as a pharmacist, he founded medical publishing company

Adis International Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing. Originally founded in 1842 in ...

in 1963, and it had an annual turnover of $100 million when he sold it to

Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer N.V. () is a Dutch information services company. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands (Global) and Philadelphia, United States (corporate). Wolters Kluwer in its current form was founded in 1987 with a ...

in 1996. The following year, he co-founded Sileni Wine Estates in

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 is ...

. As a young man, Avery played first-grade rugby in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, and was a 400-metre runner. He was a co-founder (with Dave Norris) of the North Shore Bays Athletics Club in 1978 (later renamed to North Harbour Bays Athletics Club Inc. in 1997) and in 2002 he joined with

Stephen Tindall Sir Stephen Robert Tindall (born May 1951) is the founder of New Zealand retailer The Warehouse, The Warehouse Group, and the Tindall Foundation. Early life and education Tindall attended Takapuna Grammar and has a Diploma of Management from the ...

and

Auckland University of Technology Auckland University of Technology (AUT) ( mi, Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau) is a university in New Zealand, formed on 1 January 2000 when a former technical college (originally established in 1895) was granted university status. AUT ...

(AUT) to establish the $30 million Millennium Institute of Sport and Health as an elite sports academy. In 2009, Avery became chair of the AUT Millennium Ownership Trust. In 1990, Avery was awarded the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to approximately 3,000 people. Background The New Zea ...

. In the

2007 Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2007 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 17 June 2007, to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2007.Antigua & Barbuda list: The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and a ...

, he was appointed an

Officer 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 rend ...

, for services to business and sport, and in the

2014 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2014 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of ...

he was promoted to

Knight 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 ...

, also for services to business and sport. Avery was named New Zealander of the Year in 2003 by ''

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

'' magazine, and in 2006 he was conferred an honorary doctorate by AUT. In 2014, Avery was inducted into the

New Zealand Business Hall of Fame The New Zealand Business Hall of Fame is a figurative hall of fame dedicated to New Zealanders who have made a significant contribution to the economic and social development of New Zealand. The hall was established in 1994 by the Young Enterpri ...

References

1941 births Living people New Zealand businesspeople New Zealand publishers (people) New Zealand philanthropists New Zealand sports executives and administrators Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit Businesspeople awarded knighthoods {{NewZealand-business-bio-stub