Tim Wilson is a former

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

journalist and broadcaster, who is currently the executive director of the

Maxim Institute The Maxim Institute is a research and public policy think tank based in Auckland, New Zealand. The Institute's work is oriented toward a conservative perspective on its issues of primary concern, which are now education policy, tax and welfare poli ...

Early life and family

Wilson was born in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

and adopted by a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister who relocated the family to Pōkeno and then to

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

and finally

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. Whangan ...

when Wilson was a teenager. Wilson studied at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

. While working in New York, Wilson converted to Catholicism. He met his future wife, Rachel, a former primary school teacher, in a Catholic church in Auckland; the couple have three sons.

Career

Journalism

Wilson was formerly a staff writer at ''Metro'' magazine before moving to New York City to work as a freelance journalist in September 2001. After making occasional contributions to

TVNZ , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the So ...

's news bulletins, he was hired as ''One News''' first full-time US correspondent in 2004; his first assignment was the inauguration of George W Bush. He held this position until 2012, when he returned to New Zealand. He has since worked across

's ''

Breakfast Breakfast is the first meal of the day usually eaten in the morning. The word in English refers to breaking the fasting period of the previous night.Anderson, Heather Arndt (2013)''Breakfast: A History'' AltaMira Press. Various "typical" or "t ...

'' and ''

Seven Sharp ''Seven Sharp'' is a half-hour-long New Zealand current affairs programme produced by Television New Zealand. The programme was created after the discontinuation of ''Close Up''. It is broadcast live from the TVNZ studio it shares with ''1 News ...

'' programmes as a producer and reporter, and hosting radio programmes on

Newstalk ZB Newstalk ZB is a nationwide New Zealand talk radio, talk-radio network operated by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, NZME Radio. It is available in almost every media market, radio market area in New Zealand, and has news reporters based in m ...

. Wilson left TVNZ in October 2020.

Literary career

Tim Wilson has published five books. His first, ''Good as Goldie'' (Hatchette; 2002), tells the story of New Zealand art forger

Karl Sim Karl Feoder Sim, also known as Carl Feoder Goldie (6 December 1923 – 21 October 2013) was a New Zealand art forger, and the only person convicted of that crime in New Zealand. Early life Sim was born in Mangaweka in the Manawatū-Whanganui re ...

. Wilson's four works of fiction are published by

Victoria University Press Te Herenga Waka University Press or THWUP (formerly Victoria University Press) is the book publishing arm of Victoria University of Wellington, located in Wellington, New Zealand. As of 2022, the press had published around 800 books. History Vi ...

. His first novel ''Their Faces Were Shining'' was published in 2010. A collection of short fiction, ''The Desolation Angel'', was published in 2011. ''News Pigs'' was published in 2014 with the sequel ''The Straight Banana'' published in 2016.

Public policy

Wilson is currently executive director of the

, a conservative public policy think tank.

References

External links

TVNZ - Tim Wilson Blog ArchiveMichele Hewitson interview: Tim Wilson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Tim New Zealand television presenters New Zealand radio presenters New Zealand television journalists New Zealand radio journalists Living people Newstalk ZB Mass media people from Dunedin University of Auckland alumni Writers from Dunedin Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)