John Whitehead was appointed to the position of Secretary to the Treasury in April 2003. In this role, he is Chief Executive of one of the key central agencies of the New Zealand Government, and operates as its chief economic and financial advisor.
Most of John's 30-plus years in the Public Service have been spent at the Treasury. Joining in 1982, he has held various senior positions in Tax Policy, Economics, Macro Economics and Medium Term Strategy. Before being appointed Secretary, John was a Deputy Secretary to the Treasury, managing its Regulatory and Tax Policy Branch.
Before joining the Treasury, he worked in the Christchurch Office of the Statistics Department, and was a Parliamentary Research Officer from 1977 to 1982.
Between 1985 and 1988, John was seconded from the Treasury to the position of Economic Adviser in the Prime Minister's Office, and spent four years between 1988 and 1992 as a Counsellor (Economic) and Minister (Economic) at the High Commission in London.
John has a BSc with Honours in Mathematics and a MComm with Honours in Economics.