Neville Peat

Peat was born in Dunedin on 29 November 1947, the son of Ernie Peat and Jessie Peat (née Ayson).^[2] His heritage is Scottish, described as a fifth-generation descendant of Scottish pioneers in Otago.^[3]

He was an elected member of the Otago Regional Council from 1998 to 2007, and was its deputy chairperson from 2004 to 2007.^[4] He stood down in 2007 to take up the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writers' Fellowship, during which he completed a comprehensive book on the Tasman Sea, The Tasman: Biography of an Ocean.^[4][5] In 2013, Peat was elected to the Dunedin City Council, and served one term before standing down in 2016.^[6][7]

In 2004, Peat was behind moves to create an official flag for Otago. This culminated in a competition run through the auspices of the Otago Daily Times newspaper and Otago Polytechnic School of Art towards the end of that year.^[8]

Peat published over 40 titles including those on regional national history of New Zealand and on national birds such as the kiwi and New Zealand falcon.^[9]

Peat died in Dunedin Hospital on 1 March 2026, at the age of 78.^[10]

In 1994, Peat was named Dunedin Citizen of the Year, because of his books on the region and establishing the Dunedin Environmental Business Network.^[4] In 1996, he and co-author Brian Patrick won the Montana New Zealand Book Awards for the book Wild Dunedin.^[11] Peat was awarded the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writers' Fellowship, New Zealand's largest literary award, in 2007.^[12] In 2016, he received the CLNZ Writers' Award for his project The Invading Sea.^[13][14][15]

In the 2018 New Year Honours, Peat was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to conservation.^[16] He received the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in 2024.^[17]